Second man charged with smuggling caravan ‘terror plot’ suspect Sayet Akca from Australia

How a ‘hedonist’ sailor allegedly smuggled an accused terror mastermind out of the country on a boat - and recorded the whole voyage on video as the fugitive allegedly hid below decks.

Thomas Goertz is playing The Beatles track You Won’t See Me at full belt as he ploughs through the Arafura Sea on a luxury yacht police claim is carrying terror ­suspect Sayet Akca as he flees Australia.

The German national is filming his self-described “solo sail” and posting the whole thing on Instagram, though with no sign of the fugitive, presumably out of sight below deck – if, as police say, he’s on board. It’s either the most audacious false trail laid by a man helping organised criminals flee the country, as police allege, or Goertz is, as he claims, simply a hedonistic adventurer enjoying life on the high seas.

On Monday the 51-year-old sailor became the second person charged with smuggling suspected caravan “terror plot” mastermind Akca from far north Queensland to Phuket in Thailand after his alleged accomplice, Sean Eamon Ryan, faced court last week.

The covert operation was ­allegedly organised by Goertz, who was arrested on board a yacht off the coast of the Northern Territory earlier this year, ­accused of trying to smuggle ­another fugitive drug trafficker, Hussein Chamas, out of the ­country. Goertz describes himself on his Instagram page as “Sailor, ­Adventurer, Hedonist, Anti-­authoritarian”, saying he is “travelling the world aboard the sailing vessel Juana Lucina … currently in Southeast Asia, fighting the weather, surviving nature and battling bureaucracy”.

Thomas Goertz

The lifelong sailor has spent years delivering boats around the world, often with a beer in his hand and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

His partner, Jade Siu Ying Ormiston, occasionally joins him on his long-distance cruises. She is not alleged to have been with him when police claim he took Aka out of the country.

But Ormiston has been charged with attempting to help Chamas escape, after he was ­allegedly found hidden on their boat near Nhulunbuy on January 26. It is alleged that after being smuggled more than 4000km in a campervan, Chamas was spotted on a beach in Nhulunbuy signalling the boat with a torch.

Jade Ormiston with Thomas Goertz. Picture: Supplied

There’s no Instagram record of that failed attempt. But Goertz posted plenty of pictures and video of his voyage in 2023, thanking Elon Musk for the Starlink satellite set-up that allowed him to upload the journey.

After flying to Brisbane from his base in Langkawi, Malaysia, Goertz arrived in Townsville around September 6 and, according to police, went to Ryan’s home and asked for him to act as a deckhand in helping Akca flee.

Sean Eamon Ryan has been charged after allegedly helping Sayet Erhan Akca flee the country. Picture: Australian Federal Police

Sayet Erhan Akca pouring Hennessy. Akca is a fugitive alleged to be behind the “terror caravan plot” before fleeing Australia, after being charged with alleged drug importation offences. Picture: Facebook

In Townsville Goertz picked up a boat, the Moo, a luxury 17m boat with three cabins designed for long-haul sailing. There is no suggestion the owners of the boat were aware of any illegal activity.

Over the next few days he took the boat out for “sea trials”, mentioning at least twice in his posts that it was to be “a solo sail”, in what he calculated would be a 5000 nautical mile journey. Police claim Ryan was already on board. But as he sails north along the Great Barrier Reef, ­Goertz often remarks on the ­absence of people.

“There’s nothing out here, only water – I like!” he says at one point. “It does feel very lonely out here, not even a mermaid.”

Police say both Akca and Ryan were aboard the yacht at the time.

On September 9 he arrived at Horn Island, on the tip of the Cape York Peninsula. “I found a bar at the end of the world,” ­Goertz declared, posting a photo of himself at Aunty May’s Bar.

Thomas Goertz on Horn Island Sept 2023

Horn Island is just a couple of kilometres across the water from Thursday Island, where police ­allege Goertz and Ryan picked up Akca during an at-sea transfer.

Akca had just jumped bail on charges of importing 500kg of drugs and was facing up to 10 years in prison.

Federal police arrest Sean Eamon Ryan. Picture: Australian Federal Police

Within a couple of days Goertz was sailing through the Arafura Sea and a week later reached the Banda Sea just below Sulawesi. On October 5, staring bleary-eyed into the camera, he says he’s about to begin another three-hour watch, from midnight til 3am. “First get the coffee going. Checking the radar. Checking and maintaining the log. Figuring out the running total. Checking position. OK. All clear. All is well.”

By 13 October 13 he had reached Port Dickson in Malaysia, where he headed to the Sailors Drink Shop, a bar at the Admiral Marina and Leisure Club.

There’s a gap in Goertz’s posts until October 28 when he’s propped up at Charlie’s Bar at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club, rain pouring down outside, “at the end of an epic voyage across the seas”.

Thomas Goertz at the Sailors Drink Shop 13 Oct 2023 Pic: Instagram

Langkawi is just 160km from Phuket, where police allege that on November 2 the pair dropped Akca. Ryan was the only person declared on the crew list – ­because, say police, he “knew that (Akca) was not permitted to enter Thailand”. It’s unclear when or how Akca is alleged to have got ashore in Phuket, or gone on to Turkey, where police say he was heading.

Police claim Goertz and Ryan were aware Akca was facing charges, but both have been granted bail, despite objections from prosecutors. The pair face up to 10 years’ jail if convicted. Meanwhile, Akca – now formally identified by police as the man they believe was behind the spate of anti-Semitic arson and graffiti attacks in Sydney – is still at large.