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Karl Schembri
Two inquiries in the wake of Friday’s lifeboat tragedy – which left two Syrians fighting for their life and another two seriously injured after the craft they were lowering gave way – will have to answer persistent questions about the procedures followed by the Maritime Authority’s inspector who ordered the lowering of the boat with people inside it over dry land.
A magisterial inquiry and another investigation launched by the Malta Maritime Authority last Friday are expected to establish, among other questions, whether the authority’s Port State Control Inspector, Joe Amato, followed the right procedures in ordering the Syrian sailors to lower the lifeboat over land.
When the lifeboat gave way, the sailors, who form part of the 18-strong Seawind vessel carrying cars from Libya, fell over two storeys at the Marsa deepwater quay. Until last night, one of the sailors was still in danger of dying while the other three were under intensive care at St Luke’s Hospital.
One of the questions being asked by observers in the shipping industry is whether Amato was right in ordering the lowering of the lifeboat in that way, with the ensuing tragedy of sailors falling on the concrete instead of the sea.
Maritime Authority Chairman Marc Bonello said the inquiries would have to answer such questions.
“I can’t comment on whether procedures were followed or not because that is actually what the inquiries are meant to answer,” Dr Bonello said, adding that his authority’s inquiry will be made public once it is concluded and presented to the government. “It would be unfair to speculate now. We still have to determine whether the mistake happened from the crew’s side or from our men.”
Amato would not be drawn into commenting about why he ordered the lifeboat to be lowered when contacted last night.
“There’s an ongoing magisterial inquiry, so I can’t give you any comments,” Amato said. “All I can say is that the inspection formed part of the random checks required by the International Maritime Organisation on ships entering Malta.”
karl@newsworksltd.com
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