MV Rochelaise de Peche SA, the Kirrixhi owner, says it was the bulk carrier that failed to keep a proper lookout in circumstances where it spotted the trawler some distance away and failed to properly assess the trawler’s position. The trawler owners say their vessel had its “not under command” lights on while repairs were being carried out after it had engine cooler difficulties.
Opening the case on Tuesday, David Conlan Smyth SC, for Hua Sheng Hai Ltd, said everyone on the trawler could have been killed in the collision. Had it occurred a little further back at the bulk carrier’s oil tanks, it “could have created an environmental disaster”, he said. The trawler skipper said the vessel was under repair at the time but it then went into what counsel called a “bizarre manoeuvre” before maintaining a “curiously straight line” at a speed of nine knots, two below its maximum speed, right up to the collision.
It also appeared the internal lights in the wheelhouse of the trawler were on which meant it would have been difficult to see out or to see the controls in the wheelhouse. “It was like travelling along a motorway at 120kph. It would be hard to see your own dials let alone what was out there”, counsel said.“We also don’t know if he was wearing headphones because he did not hear the whistle which was sounded five times”.