Owner should have ensured stricken boat was seaworthy

The owner of a boat that sank in 2013 should have ensured it was seaworthy, the procurator fiscal told a fatal accident inquiry at Oban Sheriff Court.

During the final day of proceedings into the death of Scott MacAlister, aged 40, of Luing, the crown highlighted four precautions that could have prevented the death.

Mr MacAlister was the skipper of the Speedwell, a boat owned by John Connell, which went down on April 25 2013, near Easdale.

Procurator Fiscal David Glancy told Oban Sheriff Court: ‘The owner and master of the fishing vessel should have ensured the vessel was in a seaworthy condition.

‘A reasonable precaution would have been to do all that is necessary to ensure it was water tight.’

Mr Glancy’s second precaution was ‘the owner of the Speedwell ensuring there were life jackets on board the vessel’. ‘On the balance of probability, it is my submission that on April 25 there were no life jackets on board the fishing vessel Speedwell.’

Another precaution was if the deceased was wearing such a life jacket or personal floatation device.

‘Having regard to the evidence,’ Mr Glancy added. ‘The wearing of a life jacket would have been a reasonable precaution whereby Mr MacAlister’s death might have been avoided.’

Mr Glancy’s final submission was ‘the accused requesting assistance at a time earlier than when the mayday call was made’.

Mr Glancy said Mr MacAlister’s death might have been avoided if he transmitted a distress call when he phoned his partner at 12.50pm. Mr Glancy brought the free surfacing effect to the attention of the court and asked that consideration was made to the dangerous effects of free surface water moving within a vessel.

Michael Thompson, John Connell’s solicitor, said: ‘The court must try and establish precisely when and in what circumstances this vessel became un-seaworthy because it’s John Connell’s position that he was not aware. Let’s imagine there were no life jackets, if Scott knew that, regrettably he has to bear the responsibility for not raising that.’ The MacAlister family’s solicitor Lewis Kennedy said: ‘Scott MacAlister had been under pressure from John Connell to take the Speedwell out to sea at that time. John Connell had the annual obligation to self certify safety equipment. Mr MacAlister was reasonably entitled to rely on the Speedwell.’

Sheriff Patrick Hughes said he would compile his report ‘as quickly as possible’.