Tag Archives: death at sea
JMT tragedy: Looking for answers – and an apology
I’m writing this after my annual trip to sit at Rame Head and look over the spot where my son Michael and his colleague Shane Hooper died nine years ago. Shane was 33 when he died, and Michael was 22. I’ve been fighting since then for some kind of justice, and for changes that will prevent other needless deaths at sea. The fundamental issue that saw my son go to sea in a boat that was certified as safe, but most certainly was not, has never been addressed. Michael was fishing at the age of 14, whelking as soon as he was able to leave school and work full-time, and well used to weights on deck. He wanted to go scalloping, and I found what was advertised as the ideal boat for him. The boat, called JMT, was an under- 10m scalloper, and had just passed its MCA survey, then conducted through Seafish. If I had had an additional independent survey done (this haunts me to this day), it would have been deemed unsafe immediately. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:01
NT coroner says Austral Fisheries should be prosecuted for fisherman’s death at sea
The Northern Territory coroner has told an inquest into a fatal electrocution on a prawn trawler that Austral Fisheries should be prosecuted for providing an unsafe workplace. Coroner Greg Cavanagh made the comment while the company’s chief executive David Carter was giving evidence about his knowledge of. Ryan Donoghue, 20, was using a 240-volt angle grinder, plugged into a socket without a safety switch, to cut rusted shackles on the company’s Newfish 1 trawler in 2013. Mr Donoghue had bare feet when a wave hit him and the trawler’s crew members were unable to revive him with CPR. “This workplace was unsafe,” Mr Cavanagh said. “I reckon that your workplace should be prosecuted for it, but no-one’s going to do it.” Video, Read the rest here 11:52
