Skipper of death crash trawler jailed for a year
fisherman blamed for ‘gross negligence’
Published:
THE skipper of an unattended trawler which was holed on rocks and sank in Northern Ireland with the loss of two men was jailed for a year yesterday.
Conrad Zych, 28, left his wheelhouse to help prepare the prawn catch when the Greenhill was holed near Ardglass, Co Down, in January 2006.
Belfast Crown Court judge Anthony Hart blamed the skipper for gross negligence.
“His failure to ensure that a proper look-out was kept amounted to gross negligence and led directly to this terrible tragedy,” he said.
Zych was sentenced for two counts of manslaughter, the first time the law has been applied in this way.
Crew members Donall Gibson, 22, and Connor Bogues, 26, were lost. They were not wearing lifejackets.
Zych, from Downpatrick Road, Ardglass, left the wheelhouse for seven minutes to help prepare the catch, a common practice linked in this case to under-staffing of the boat.
Judge Hart said: “The economic pressures on the fishing industry in Northern Ireland and elsewhere in the UK are well known.
“But while they may explain, they can never justify skippers neglecting essential safety precautions such as keeping a proper watch on the approach to a difficult harbour entrance in the dark, and in deteriorating weather conditions, as happened here.”
Zych’s 30-year-old vessel sank quickly after the skipper reversed off rocks which had torn her hull.
The judge said that decision meant water rushed in faster and the crew were unable to reach their lifejackets.
Other signs of disregard for proper safety standards included the absence of a navigational chart.
When talking to police Zych admitted failing to keep a lookout. He recalled the dramatic last moments when the lights went out and the engine room and other areas were flooded, barring the way to the lifejackets.
A desperate struggle to unhook the life raft from the wheelhouse roof succeeded just as the boat sank.
Maritime and Coastguard Agency officer Allan Marsh said the case highlighted the need to ensure proper safety practices were followed.
