Skipper’s father tells FAI boat sank close to safety

● Fisherman says police looked in wrong place

Skipper Scott Macalister died five minutes from safety when his trawler Speedwell sunk off Easdale, his father told the seventh day of a fatal accident inquiry in Oban.

Peter Macalister, 70, a fisherman of 50 years, said police did not listen to local fishermen, and wasted time and money looking in the wrong spot.

He also thanked everyone who joined the efforts to rescue his son. “All the local fishermen have helped in their own way,” he said. Around 20 vessels answered Scott’s mayday at 1:06pm on 25 April, 2013, including the Calmac ferry Lord of the Isles, but the official search was terminated the next day, with no sign of the Speedwell or Scott.

The Macalister family’s advocate Lewis Kennedy recalled Mr Alastair Davidson, a retired DI at Oban Police Office, had earlier “accepted the police got it wrong: they were searching in the wrong place”.

Mr Macalister said: “They did not consult people and felt they knew better. There were hundreds of years of experience. There were 28 boats on the sea. There were plenty of people who could have told them. I do not know what they did to be in charge of the search. If they had asked any of the fishermen they would have told them where to look.”

On 7 June, the Speedwell was located 83m deep, 400 yards to the south of Insh, and 700m away from sanctuary at the jetty in the Easdale Channel.

“It would only have taken a few minutes,” Mr Macalister said: “It would have been five minutes away.”

Mr Kennedy asked Peter Macalister why he continued his plea to raise the Speedwell from the seabed. “Scott could still be on the boat,” he replied.

The court also heard evidence from Javier Martinez, 43, the Speedwell’s skipper in November and December 2009.

A joint minute agreed by the parties’ lawyers stated: “He immediately encountered problems.

“He had difficulty controlling the boat. The stern felt heavy. The boat was not steering properly. The sea was choppy and the boat was slowing down. He went aft and opened the aft hatch, and found a substantial quantity of water in the aft compartment. He discovered the bilge pump did not work, so pumped the water out manually.”

For a second time Mr Martinez discovered water in the aft hatch, which he bailed, while Speedwell was moored in Loch Sunart.