WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The owners of a New Zealand island volcano that erupted in 2019, killing 22 people, launched an appeal on Tuesday against their criminal conviction for violating safety lawsclaiming that the tour operators – rather than their company – were responsible for the safety of visitors to Whakaari, also known as the White Island.

Whakaari Management, a company owned by brothers Andrew, Peter and James Buttle, was found guilty last October of a charge brought by New Zealand’s workplace safety regulator for failing to protect visitors to the island. He was ordered to pay millions of dollars in fines and restitution to the victims of the volcanic eruption, who were tourists on a cruise ship, and their local guides.

The company filed an appeal in March. On Tuesday, lawyer Rachael Reed told the High Court in Auckland that the judge was wrong to rule that the owners of the volcano were the managers or controllers of a workplace under the Act – and were therefore responsible for mitigating the health and safety risks to anyone present .

The company only allowed access to the volcano, Reed said, and expected tour operators to manage the safety of tourists there.

“Like any landowner, he had and granted the right of access to the land through licences. That’s what he did,” she told the court, referring to the company. “He didn’t organize the tours. He did not direct or supervise the tours.”

White Island, the summit of an undersea volcano, also known by its Maori name Whakaari, was a popular tourist destination before the eruption. There were 47 tourists and tour guides – mostly from the US and Australia – on the island when the superheated steam blew, killing some people instantly and leaving others with painful burns.

The disaster has drawn attention to the natural hazards around which much of New Zealand’s adventure tourism industry operates and prompted tougher laws for tour companies, after survivors of the eruption said they had not been told that the active volcano was dangerous before their guided walk to the crater.

After a three-month trial last year, a judge found the company guilty of health and safety failings in the run-up to the eruption. In his ruling, Judge Evangelos Thomas said Whakaari management had failed to carry out a risk assessment despite being aware of an eruption three years earlier.

Judge Thomas said the company should have sought expert advice on the dangers and either stopped the tours altogether or put controls in place. He denied a second allegation against the company.

Charges have been brought by New Zealand’s workplace safety regulator against 13 organizations and individuals, including the owners’ company. Some pleaded guilty, including three companies operating helicopter tours, one operating boat tours, a scenic flight operator and New Zealand science agency GNS Science. Charges against others were dropped.

In this week’s three-day appeal, Mr Justice Simon Moore is expected to hear further submissions from Whakaari Management lawyers ahead of the regulator’s arguments. Moore told the court that any error found by the trial judge must amount to a miscarriage of justice for the appeal to succeed.