US widow 'euphoric' at shark-cage safety ruling

Shark-cage diving operators may no longer be able to hide behind the indemnity documents they make their clients sign.

The High Court in Cape Town ruled this week that a defence based on the fact that someone had signed a form indemnifying the operator from litigation if something went wrong did not float in law.

The judgment gives US widow Sarah Tallman the green light to sue the owners of a Cape Town shark-diving vessel that capsized off the Kleinbaai coast in 2008, killing her new husband, Chris, and his best man, Casey Lajeunesse.

Tallman, 40, has spent the past six years embroiled in litigation with the owners of the ill-fated vessel.

She is suing the skipper, Grant Tuckett, and the shark-diving business White Shark Projects, for $2.2-million (R25.5-million) for loss of support.

She accuses the company of negligence for failing to notice a deterioration in sailing conditions, including mounting swells, while the vessel was anchored near submerged rocks.

The vessel's owners denied the allegations and claimed that Chris, a US banker and singer, had signed a waiver that indemnified them against damages claims.

But in a 68-page judgment, Acting Judge Alec Freund slammed the shark-diving company and Tuckett, and found that they were liable for Chris's death. Freund ordered that the company and Tuckett pay Tallman's court costs.

Another court will determine the award that will be made to Tallman .

Tallman's lawyer, Gavin Fitzmaurice, said the judgment had profound implications for the shark-cage diving industry in that it established clear safety requirements .

He said the owners of the vessels could no longer leave responsibility for the safety of their clients to the skippers of their boats.

"The owners have been told that they can't just abdicate responsibility to the skipper," said Fitzmaurice.

"They will have to consider whether the weather allows the boat to put out to sea, where it can go and where it can safely anchor."

Tallman, speaking from her home in North Carolina, said her elderly father had been supporting her financially since Chris's death, but now at last he could retire.

"I felt euphoric for several hours because of the weight that had been lifted from my shoulders.

"It is the end of the mountain of financial stress the litigation has brought on my parents, who have loved and supported me emotionally and financially for years," Tallman said.

"I can finally pay them back, and my dad can finally afford to retire.

"This case has almost destroyed me and my family. The emotional and psychological toll it has taken on all of us is not worth all of the money in the bank."

Lawyer Michael Tucker, acting for Tuckett and the owners of White Shark Projects, said: "We certainly expect to receive instructions to apply for leave to appeal the judgment [on the grounds of the] court's disregard for credible countervailing evidence regarding the sea and weather conditions."