An Appeals Court, presided over by Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono, confirmed the acquittal of two Dutchmen in connection with the death of a Dutch scuba diver at the Malta Freeport.

The diver, Raymond van Beek, 40, who used to live in Swieqi with his Maltese wife and two children, was killed on 11 July 2004 after a bow thruster caused him to be sucked into the propellers of container ship CMA CGM Verlaine while conducting routine checks on the ship’s hull. His body was mutilated in a matter of seconds.

The captain and chief engineer of the vessel, Peter Karl Bergmann and Herman Dieter Raake, both residing in Germany, were accused before a magistrates’ court of causing the death of the man through imprudence, carelessness, unskillfulness in their profession, or non-observance of regulations. They always pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them.

The judge said that as the equipment that caused the accident could not have kick-started automatically, there arises a very strong suspicion that either it had not been properly turned off in the first place or else that some member or members of the crew had put the bow thruster into operation by direct interventions both in the engine room and on the bridge.

Alternatively there could have occurred some general technical malfunction of the vessel’s equipment which caused these various items of machinery to start up without direct human intervention.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Galea Debono said the court cannot find criminal responsibility on the basis of mere suspicion, all the more as the Attorney General’s application of appeal in no way helps the court to put its finger on any concrete facts which could convince this court to the degree of moral certainty of the defendants’ guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Dr Stefano Filletti appeared for the accused.