Tag Archives: Looking for answers
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
