Great Barrier Reef tour operator fined following death of British snorkeller

Cairns, Queensland-based tour operator Hostel Reef Trips has been fined AU$60,000 (£29,333) for safety failings following the death of a British snorkeller on the Great Barrier Reef in 2022.

Twenty-five-year-old Cameron Shaw was snorkelling from the company’s vessel, Reef Experience, during a trip to Saxon Reef, approximately 55 kilometres (34 miles) northeast of Cairns, when he went missing during a supervised snorkelling session.

In a hearing at Cairns Magistrate Court, being watched by video link by Shaw’s parents, the court was told that Mr Shaw and his friends had participated in an introductory dive earlier in the day, after which they went snorkelling in a designated area being monitored by a member of Hostel Reef Trips’ staff.

Upon realising Shaw was missing after the group was called back to the boat, his friends alerted the boat’s crew twice, but they failed both times to mount a search.

Shaw’s friends spoke with the crew a third time during the lunch break, when it was clear that Shaw had still not returned. The court was told that by this time, Reef Experience’s crew had already been informed by a private vessel that they had found a body floating in the water, approximately 1 km from the designated snorkel area.

Shaw’s death was deemed to be of natural causes, and while the tour operator was not being prosecuted for the fatality, Hostel Reef Trips Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to the offence of ‘breaching workplace health and safety obligations’.

The tour operator’s lawyer said that the failure to mount a search was ‘an honest error’, and has accepted the penalty and reviewed its safety procedures in light of the incident.

Prosecution lawyers, however, argued that the operator’s inadequate procedures and failure to mount a search put everybody on board the boat that day at risk.

Sentencing the operator to pay AU$60,000 plus court costs and additional fees, presiding Magistrate James Morton said: ‘A young person has lost his life on a day where he should’ve been enjoying himself.

‘All passengers on that day were exposed to risk, which only became apparent after Mr Shaw’s death. No amount of money or no amount of outcome will replace [Mr & Mrs Shaw’s] son.’

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