According to the preliminary report into the tragedy of the Simshar fishing vessel, the most important parts of the evidence given by sole survivor Simon Bugeja are credible, although there is inconsistency in four specific areas.

Following the much spoken about misfortune, which claimed the lives of three men and Mr Bugeja’s 11-year-old boy in July last year, Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt commissioned lawyer Ann Fenech as the official person responsible for the preliminary investigation into the case, and her report, dated 26 June, was tabled in parliament yesterday.

Dr Fenech notes that it is not possible to conclude with any degree of certainty that the events as explained by the sole survivor actually took place the way he said they did.

However, she adds, the fact that little of what the witness has stated has been corroborated by other independent evidence, does not mean that one can legitimately put to doubt the rest of what the witness stated.

The report states that Mr Bugeja’s version goes as follows: “... being that an explosion took place whilst they were out at sea, that a fire ensued as a result of which the boat was totally consumed by the fire, that all the persons on board the vessel ended up in the sea, that all the persons except for Simon Bugeja started to pass away one by one and that there was no foul play causing the casualty either by anyone on board or any other party”.

Dr Fenech then goes on to give details about the four areas of inconsistency, explained below.

The explosion

The investigator writes that in her first interview with Mr Bugeja, he said he had smelt a strange smell and saw smoke coming out of the engine room, so he went to disconnect the fuel supply.

Mr Bugeja had said that as he went back up, there was a big explosion which threw him and the other members of the crew into the water, and a fire ensued.

But in his second interview with Dr Fenech, Mr Bugeja said that the explosion threw them forward to the front of the boat from where he tried to climb onto the bridge to get the life raft, which had, however, been blown away – and then at that point there was a second explosion which threw them into the sea.

Who got hurt?

Dr Fenech said that according to the sole survivor, none of the other crew members suffered any injury during the explosion and the subsequent fire.

But, she adds, the body of the Somali, Abdulrahman Abdala Gedi, was found to have sustained serious burns on the chest and back, consistent with exposure to fire.

How long did the fire last?

While Mr Bugeja had said that the fire caused by the explosion lasted more than six hours, according to the findings of expert Alfred Vella, it is unlikely that the first lasted more than two and a half hours.

And the life raft?

Dr Fenech found that what happened to the life raft during or after the explosion is also unclear. Mr Bugeja had told her that after the first explosion, he could not find the life raft as it had been blown off, but he told Mark Bugeja, his rescuer, that he could not use the life raft because he could not open it.

What led to the explosion?

After going into the areas of inconsistency, Dr Fenech tries to understand what caused the explosion.

She says that as expert Alfred Vella explained, it is very difficult to come up with a logical example if one accepts all that the sole survivor said about the LPG gas being stored on the roof of the bridge, and about there not being any flammable gas or fuel inside the engine room.

According to Prof. Vella, the only way to explain how the explosion could have happened is by disregarding what the witness said about the LPG tanks being on the bridge.

Recommendations

While dismissing every rumour she came across during the investigation as “unsubstantiated”, Dr Fenech concludes her report by making a number of recommendations, saying: “I have come across a number of anomalies in systems and work practices, in customs and attitudes, which are a great cause for concern, and which in my view played a part in the unfolding of this tragic event”.

Because the registered name of the Simshar is actually “Samsher”, Dr Fenech recommended stricter regulations to ensure that the registered names of fishing boats corresponds with the names actually inscribed on the boats’ stern.

The investigator goes into a lot of detail with regard to handling of safety equipment and training, saying, “Of particular importance are three life saving devices which Simon Bugeja had on board the Samsher and which, if activated would have in my view saved the life of all of the four who lost their lives”.

She refers specifically to the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB), the VHF with an automatic digital selective calling, and the VMS distress button.

The investigator points out that Mr Bugeja said he did not know how to use the first two devices, and he did not know about the third device, even if he had won the “Fisherman of the Year” award in 2007.

Dr Fenech states that the fishermen have a very cavalier attitude towards safety – “it seems as though they do not appreciate the fact that it is their life that is involved and that it is therefore quite ludicrous to state that nobody has shown them how to use the equipment”.

She recommends the organisation of obligatory training sessions on life saving equipment for fishermen, and also suggests amendments to the regulations regarding life saving devices.

Beyond that, Dr Fenech recommends that the authorities approve the necessary funding to ensure that the law is enforced and that enough personnel are employed so that proper real time monitoring can take place.

Towards the end of her report, the investigator suggests that particularly in such high profile cases, more detailed autopsy reports are necessary.

Lastly, Dr Fenech also calls for investigation into the use of LPG to fuel engines, saying that although there is no evidence to suggest that this was used instead of normal diesel or petrol on the Simshar, there could be a number of fishing boats using LPG and, “used wrongly, it could be lethal and could cause severe explosion”.

The full report can

be downloaded from http://doi.gov.mt/EN/press_releases/2009/06/pr1118a.pdf.