The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
‘Recover my son’s body from wreck’
Government should help raise Speedwell after Nancy Glen – plea
THE family of a fisherman lost at sea when his boat sank off the isle of Easdale have begged the Scottish Government to commit to recovering his body.
Scott MacAlister, a 40-year-old dad-of-three, died aboard the Speedwell when it went down in sight of shore on April 25, 2013.
For years his father Peter MacAlister has pleaded for aid and he has now seen more than £1 million invested in raising the Nancy Glen to recover the bodies of its skipper Duncan MacDougall and crewman Przemk Krawczyk.
Mr MacAlister said he was “very happy” for the Nancy Glen families
but said his own should be afforded “the same common decency”.
The Scottish Government has told the family it may have to be content with a fatal accident inquiry.
The father of a fisherman lost when his boat sank off the Isle of Easdale has called on the Scottish Government to show his family the same “common decency” afforded to those in the Nancy Glen tragedy.
Scott MacAlister, a 40-year-old dad-of-three, was the only person aboard the Speedwell when it sank suddenly on April 25 2013.
His body has never been found. For the last five years his father, Peter MacAlister, and the rest of the family have been calling for the boat to be raised. They believe his body is still trapped aboard.
The Nancy Glen sank at Tarbert on January 18 with the loss of two men, skipper Duncan MacDougall, 46, and Przemk Krawczyk, 38.
As in the case of the Speedwell, the Marine Accident Investigations Branch (MAIB) said it did not require to raise the boat to complete a report.
However, following a major social media and fundraising campaign to raise the Nancy Glen and “Bring our Boys Home”, the Scottish Government stepped in and covered the cost of bringing her to the surface, which was in the region of £1 million. The bodies were recovered and returned to their families earlier this month.
Mr MacAlister said: “We are very happy that it happened for the Nancy Glen families – but it has got to be considered double standards. Surely we should be afforded the same common decency. If Scott had come up to the surface he would have been found.”
Speedwell is lying at a depth of 275ft, less than a mile from Easdale village, where the grandfather of two of Scott’s children lives.
Nancy Glen, a much larger vessel, was sitting at more than 460ft near Tarbert, before it was recovered.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Our sympathies are with the family of Mr MacAlister who have been unable to lay their loved one to rest.
“While fully empathising with the family’s need for closure, it is not possible for the Scottish Government to intervene in every case where the sinking of a fishing vessel has resulted in the loss of life at sea.
“We hope that the fatal accident inquiry will provide the MacAlister family with an opportunity to have the facts around the loss of Scott established and to also achieve a degree of peace following its conclusion.”
The fatal accident inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Scott’s death will be held at Oban Sheriff Court from June 4-8.
Comment, Page 31
“We should be afforded the same common decency”