Returner

In 2015, Chad Fairley was a 30-year-old Geraldton man, a qualified plumber and talented football player. He was also an experienced fisherman and diver.

In 2014, he had travelled to Europe, and was flying out again for a return trip on 24 July 2015. He had missed his birthday with his family on 5 June, so he planned to celebrate with his brothers, and meet his new nephew, who had been born while he was away working.

Chad came from a close-knit family and was popular amongst his workmates and football buddies. He also had a wide circle of friends spread throughout Australia and beyond. He had been working on the Returner when she steamed to the Pilbara to chase banana prawns, on a short-term arrangement before leaving for his overseas trip, and had arranged for close friend Mason, to take his place on deck while he was away.

Mason Carter was 26, a Kalbarri lad, with three brothers; Liam, Codie and Jessie, and a sister Charlotte. Alan and Chris Fairley and Barry and Bridget Carter were friends, and the boys had grown up together around boats and fishing. They had worked on boats together and Mason agreed to work on the Returner, when Chad was away travelling.

Mason was a well-known football and cricket player and a keen surfer. An experienced fisherman, he had his Master IV tickets and was studying for a Master lll. Mason was best mate to his father, Barry, part of another close-knit family and enjoyed a wide circle of friends and workmates.

Murray Turner was a well-known and well-seasoned skipper. He had worked on the ocean since he was 16, and his ability to catch was matched by his tenacity and intractable nature.

At the age of 18, Murray was involved in a motorcycle accident and had his lower right leg amputated. He was back at work within two years and was the youngest skipper for the Northwest Seafood Company. Murray had also owned and operated several boats of his own. He had a family in Geraldton, and a son, Morgan, who was a similar age to Chad and Mason.

Freda-Jess LFBF 569 was a 13-metre steel prawn trawler built in 1984. She worked continuously, and between 2000 and 2015 she was fishing in the Mandurah area, which is where Murray purchased her. He took her to Geraldton, and between January and April 2015 carried out extensive modifications to refit her for prawn trawling in the Pilbara.

Murray painted and renamed his boat Returner PS10.

Between January and April 2015 Returner underwent two surveys; one for insurance purposes by an independent company, and a compulsory survey for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), carried out by the Department of Transport (DoT).

Under the existing grandfathering in the National Law for vessel safety, surveys were carried out for an “existing vessel,” with restrictions around any change of structure or equipment. Major refits and modifications changed requirements to a “new vessel” survey.

Despite major modifications to Murray’s vessel, Returner was surveyed as an existing vessel, and it appears there was little clarity around ballast that was removed, structures that were added, the addition of weight to the vessel, and a significant change to the weight distribution. The reduction in stability was to become a factor that contributed to the loss of the vessel and her crew.

On 8 May 2015, Murray and Chad steamed to Carnarvon, with a brief stop-over for Murray to return to Perth to have his prosthetic leg repaired.

Returner berthed in Point Samson on 24 May 2015 and underwent sea trials before being introduced to the prawning grounds, with the aid of a friend who was experienced operating in the fickle weather and waters of the Pilbara.

Murray’s son visited with a mate, and they went fishing on Returner between 26 June and 2 July 2015. On 6 July 2015, Mason joined Murray and Chad on the Returner’s final trip. They headed north to the de Grey River and planned to fish their way south to Nickol Bay, then return to their Point Samson moorings on 15 July 2015.

On 11 July 2015, between 12.50 and 1.32am Chad was texting his brother Kane in Geraldton. Kane responded to Chad’s last text, but when he received no reply assumed Chad was called away to carry out tasks on deck, or had moved out of mobile coverage.

At 1.38am a woman at Cleaverville Caravan Park was woken by strong winds, and went out to check her caravan. She saw the deck and survey lights of Returner close to shore, and thought she was experiencing rough conditions by the way it rocked from side to side in the water.

All Western Australian commercial fishing vessels have an Automatic Communication Locator (ALC) as a part of the Fisheries Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). The ALC transmits a signal, via satellite, every hour providing the position, course, and average speed of the boat. The signal is received at the Fremantle Department of Fisheries VMS Unit. The system is set up to notify when signals are overdue or cease. Returner’s ALC sent its last transmission at 1.46am on Saturday 11 July 2015, 16 minutes after Chad’s last text to his brother.

This was not discovered until Monday 13 July 2015, when the VMS Unit returned to work after the weekend. Despite the length of time since the last ALC signal, no alarm was raised by authorities, other than a telephone call to a local skipper, Mr Simpson, on Tuesday 14 July 2015 asking if he had seen Returner.

Mr Simpson had met Murray and knew the Fairley family. He made multiple telephone calls to authorities expressing his concerns, contacted local skippers to alert them, and eventually took his boat to Nickol Bay to search for Returner without success.

On 15 July 2015, Mr Simpson contacted Water Police. He also rang Chad’s parents who were staying in Karratha, ready to take Chad home.

Water Police contacted authorities at 2.53pm on 15 July 2015, and they sought Returner’s last location from Fisheries in order to commence a search for Returner.

Meanwhile in Geraldton, Chad’s family and friends launched their own search party. It attracted more funding than any previously publicly funded search, and local support, via fuel and flights to Karratha were also donated; a testament to the popularity of the crew and the concern of the community.

Newspaper articles reported that professional surfers, Mick Fanning and Kelly Slater, supported the search. Kane and Morgan liaised with authorities in the extensive land, sea and air searches.

Sadly, the five days that lapsed since the Returner’s final ALC and Chad’s final text meant that any hope of finding the crew alive was difficult to maintain. It was clear that whatever the catastrophe, it happened in a 15-minute window. It is also clear Returner went to the seabed so rapidly there was no opportunity to access safety equipment.

Debris from Returner was located on Dolphin Island throughout the search, including the life raft, which had not been used and whose Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) had not been activated. Poor weather hampered the search, but finally on 29 July 2015, Returner was located via sonar image, in 10 metres of water approximately 1.9 kilometres south of her last ALC position. Returner was 20 kilometres from Nickol Bay.

Murray’s body was recovered from his boat on 1 August 2015, however there was no sign of Chad, or Mason.

The Coroner ordered Returner be salvaged, and she was brought ashore on 17 August 2015. Authorities commenced investigations to determine why Returner had capsized. Evidence shows she was working at the time she capsized, she was low in the water and could not roll far, without capsizing.

On the night Returner met her end, the weather was calm until midnight. An easterly wind kicked up rapidly between 1.30am and 2.30am, bringing short waves with steep faces.

Nickol Bay is prone to variable and unpredictable conditions with inconsistent eaves travelling in different directions. Given Returner was unstable, she was susceptible to these conditions and the Coroner stated that a combination of instability and the weather conditions created a “perfect storm”.

In 2018, the National Standard for domestic commercial fishing vessels was amended, affecting grandfathering, stability testing, design and construction of vessels.

In 2021, float free EPRIBs became a mandatory item of safety equipment for domestic commercial vessels.