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Ferry officer found innocent in drowning case

Ferry Online Travel News 21/12/2007

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'Not guilty' verdict for seaman accused of neglect.

A ferry watch officer has been found innocent in a trial accusing him of the manslaughter of three men who drowned in the English Channel.

James Meaby, Jason Downer and Rupert Saunders drowned when their yacht sank on 21 August last year by the Isle of Wight.

The ferry officer Michael Hubble, 62, denied the charges that he displayed neglect in responding to an incident between his ferry, Pride of Bilbao, and a yacht.

The three men, all known to be experienced sailors, were found dead by either drowning or hypothermia. Mr. Meaby survived 12 hours in the water, while Mr. Downer and Mr. Saunders lasted only three hours. They were all found wearing inflated life vests.

According to Mr. Hubble, the Pride of Bilbao had a close encounter with a different yacht, not with the yacht of the three men. The defense stated that the yacht was actually near a 3,000-ton tanker, not the Pride of Bilbao, according to experts of South Tyneside College. Alaistair Crichton, captain of the tanker, revealed to the jury that he had no lookout on the bridge of his tanker that evening.

Mr. Hubble may still be charged under the Merchant Shipping Act of a seaman acting in a way that could likely cause serious casualties or death.

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