Trawler sank after ‘language difficulties’ between harbour officials and French skipper

A FRENCH trawler sank in a Devon harbour because of “language difficulties”, a report has concluded.

Saint Christophe 1, a 32-year-old French fishing boat, manned by a crew of five, sank on March 10 while berthed at Dart Harbour. The previous day, it had sought shelter along with two other French vessels in bad weather.

Along with another ship, the Sagittaire, Saint Christophe 1 was directed to berth alongside a quay wall, but when the tide went out it grounded and capsized.

A report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch found “the Harbour Authority was fully aware that the Saint Christophe 1 would ground on the falling tide but, due to language difficulties, its staff were unable to make the fishing vessels’ skippers aware of this”.

When the boat came to berth, harbour authority staff tried to communicate with hand gestures that it would have to leave before low tide. But the Saint Christophe 1’s skipper thought the river officer was telling him to make sure he tended his vessel’s mooring lines as the tide went out.

At 11pm, the watchman on board the Saint Christophe 1 went on deck to tend the lines. He discovered that the vessel had taken on a slight starboard list, away from the quay. He looked around the vessel to find the cause of the list, which was increasing.

The alarm was raised and the other French ship, the Maranatha 2, helped rig chains between the Sagittaire, which was also listing, and quayside bollards to arrest the list.

But Saint Christophe 1 was listing at an angle of approximately 60 degrees and water began to flood in.

The crews of both ships were rescued by the RNLI, but the Saint Christophe 1 sank.

It later transpired that the harbour had a list of people who could act as translators but neither the harbourmaster nor his deputy were aware of it.