When the catamaran Kaz II was discovered adrift 160km off the coast of Townsville, Queensland, its crew of three were nowhere to be found.
Described as “typical Aussie blokes”, skipper Derek Batten, 56, and brothers Peter, 69, and James Tunstead, 63, set sail from Airlie Beach on 15 April 2007 on a two-month voyage to their hometown of Mandurah in Western Australia.
Shortly after the vessel’s discovery, police launched an investigation to discover what happened to the relatively inexperienced sailors. But nothing was found and wild theories spread, including that the men staged their disappearance for insurance reasons, or were kidnapped by pirates or drug smugglers.
Their families held out hope the men were still alive with Peter’s daughter saying her father was meticulous about safety. And Derek’s wife confirming the more experienced sailor was always well prepared. But in 2008, the coroner ruled the crew were likely knocked overboard due to choppy seas.
A dark foreshadowing
After a year of volunteering with the Peace Corps in Fiji, US couple Tom and Eileen Lonergan decided to end their trip at the Great Barrier Reef. But while it was meant to be a relaxing time, Eileen apparently predicted the nightmare to come by hinting at Tom’s mental health struggles in her diary.
“Tom’s not suicidal, but he’s got a death wish that could lead him to what he desires and I could get caught in that,” she wrote on 9 January 1998.
Just 16 days later, Tom, 34, and Eileen, 28, disappeared 60km off the coast of Port Douglas during a scuba-diving expedition. They were left behind when charter boat MV Outer Edge headed back to land.
Left in open water
Tom and Eileen’s belongings, including their passports, were only discovered on board the boat two days after the trip’s end. A search- and-rescue operation was quickly launched, but only the couple’s dive jackets and compressed air tanks were found at sea.
Along with one of Eileen’s fins and a small white board that they’d written on. Chillingly, it was a message pleading for help, presumably written after the couple had been left at sea.
Vanished without a trace
Captain Geoffrey Nairn was tried for two counts of manslaughter over Tom and Eileen’s disappearance. But he was acquitted in November 1999 and died in 2015.
In 2018, Eileen’s mother Kathy Hains said she clung to hope that Tom and Eileen survived.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they were just doing something weird?” she said. “I’d be angry but thrilled they were still alive.”
The disappearance inspired the 2003 film Open Water.
Honeymoon turns traffic
US couple Tina and Gabe Watson’s dream honeymoon came to an abrupt end when she suddenly died while scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef on 22 October 2003.
According to Gabe, his wife began to panic over stronger-than-expected ocean currents and started sinking to the sea floor.
Initially, a previously diagnosed heart condition was thought to have been the cause of Tina’s passing. But evidence soon emerged that Gabe was responsible for the death of his wife of 11 days.
A story that didn’t add up
Then a photograph taken by a fellow diver was released. Showing an image of Tina’s lifeless body sinking to the ocean floor. This image cast doubt on Gabe’s claims that he’d tried to help her.
The prosecution argued Gabe, now 47, made no attempt to rescue Tina, 26, despite being an experienced scuba diver.
“It’s almost inexplicable he would make the decision to leave her,” lawyer Brendan Campbell told an Aussie court in May 2009.
It was also revealed that Gabe stood to make more than $200,000 from a life insurance claim.
A sentence that sparked outrage
Gabe pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. He served only12 months.
Once released in November 2010, Gabe was deported back to the US, where he faced trial again for Tina’s death in February 2012. His case was dismissed due to a lack of evidence. He remarried in 2008 and said his new wife was “very accepting” of his past.
