A newlywed couple left abandoned during a snorkeling trip after their tour operator miscounted the number of passengers is suing the company for $5million (£4.1million).
Alexander Burckle and Elizabeth Webster, from California, US, were on their honeymoon in September 2021 when they organised a trip with Maui Sail Company to go snorkelling off Lanai in Hawaii.
The couple, along with 42 other excited passengers, arrived at 10am at Lahaina Harbor in Maui and were told the boat would anchor in the middle of the ocean for an hour while everyone went snorkelling.
The pair swam out in the ocean but after 15 minutes they started to stuck in "choppy" waters and struggled to get back to the boat.
Alexander and Elizabeth tried desperately to keep afloat but the duo found themselves in deeper waters as they were facing waves of up to 8ft, according to their lawsuit.
However, the boat had deserted them leaving the couple fearing for their lives.
The couple soon realised swimming to the island of Lanai was their only chance of surviving.
According to the lawsuit they "were beginning to panic and were struggling to swim in the ocean conditions."
Their lawsuit against Maui Sail, which states all 44 passengers were onboard on the boat at around 10.50am, claims: "'They feared that drowning was imminent."
The couple, who are experienced in snorkelling, managed to get to the island of Lanai, even though tour operators advised against swimming there, and were "fatigued and dehydrated."
Once the pair arrived to the island they wrote "SOS" and "Help" in the sands to try and help get attention.
Fortunately, local residents came to their rescue after RJ and Shra Sanches spotted them and gave them water and a mobile phone to make an emergency call.
The newlywed's lawsuit claims when Elizabeth got in contact with Sail Maui at around 1.15pm - three hours after they went missing - the company admitted they didn't notice any passengers missing.
The company claims three head counts were made and confirmed two passengers of the 44 were missing.
A member of staff counted a third time and wrongly said all 44 were on board.
According to a fellow passenger on the boat, staff assured guests "everybody was on."
Jessica Herbert told Good Morning America: "'All accounted for, we started to take off, nobody's looking behind them."
She added crew members allowed everyone to move around the boat and believes this made it harder to ensure passengers were onboard.
The couple's lawyer, Jared Washkowitz, claims the passengers were not informed of a lifeguard during the trip.
He said: "It can be really rough water even for people that are experienced in the ocean, much less visitors who may not have any ocean experience or especially not have experience in Hawaiian waters.
"They spent a lot of time in the water and if they weren't young, healthy people who were athletic, they probably would've drowned."
Mr Washkowitz said an investigation into the incident by the Coast Guard found negligence on the captain's part and the company has since changed its procedures.
Sail Maui has been contacted for comment.
