Death at sea: 'He knew risk'

29 July 2014 - 02:06 By Philani Nombembe
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Cage diving with great white sharks off Mossel Bay
Cage diving with great white sharks off Mossel Bay
Image: MARIANNE SCHWANKHART

US banker Chris Tallman's life-long dream cost him his life. He drowned six years ago when the vessel he boarded to cage-dive with sharks in Kleinbaai, near Cape Town, capsized in rough seas.

Tallman's friend, Casey Lajeunesse, also died.

Lawyers for widow Sarah Tallman, 40, yesterday called on the Cape Town High Court to find the owners of Shark Team, the company that owned the boat, liable for her husband's death.

The Tallmans were newlyweds, having married in Mexico mere months before the tragedy.

Sarah Tallman is suing Shark Team, the boat's skipper, Grant Tuckett, and the shark-cage diving business White Shark Projects for $2.2-million (about R23.3-million) in damages, but first her lawyers must convince the court that the accused were negligent.

Her lawyers are contending that the vessel should not have set sail in weather that posed "an obvious danger".

But White Shark Projects said Chris Tallman signed an indemnity that protected it from lawsuits. The company said it was an "express term of the contract" that Tallman "acknowledged that cage diving, shark diving and boating are hazardous activities and accepted any and all risks of injury or death".

The defence has asked the court to find against Tallman, with costs.

Acting judge Alec Freund postponed the hearing to today .

Tallman is still heartbroken.

Around her neck is a pendant made from their wedding rings containing her husband's ashes.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now