'It couldn't be avoided' - Inquiry into death at sea after maritime collision last July

A preliminary inquiry commissioned by the Transport Ministry into a collision at sea last July between the sailing yacht Sorcery and the small fishing craft San Ġużepp off Tigne’ Point has concluded that “from the evidence... gathered during the course of (the) preliminary inquiry and from the technical advice... given together with the medical reports received, it would seem that all the physical circumstances combined together made this incident very difficult for all of the parties concerned to avoid”.

The author of the inquiry report, Dr. George Said found concludedthat the incident, which led to the eventual loss of life of the sole person aboard the San Ġużepp, could not have been avoided.

Dr. Said has therefore not made any recommendations on any further action specifically connected with the incident.

He concluded that he does “not see any added value in conducting a formal investigation in terms of the Merchant Shipping Act”.

Dr Said made a number of recommendations to improve safety in Grand Harbour and Marsamxetto Harbour. The Minister has referred these recommendations to Transport Malta for implementation.

A Transport Ministry statement said that the report is not being published in view of the fact that it contains personal details of actors in the incident, particularly the person that was aboard the San Ġużepp.

The owner of the fishing boat, Joseph Gatt, was thrown overboard when he was involved in a collision with a sailing boat, “Sorcery”, owned by John Zarb from Naxxar.

Gatt died some time later in hospital and autopsy results, revealed that the cause of death was “asphyxia due to drowning”.

According to media reports last July that quoted “sources”, said that the couple on board the sailing yacht ‘sorcery’ only realised what had happened “after they heard a loud bang and looked towards the sea”, the same unnamed sources were quoted as saying, where they saw flotsam around them.

They then “spotted Gatt in the water and threw a lifebuoy and a rope,” the sources were quoted as saying.

According to the same reports, when they realised the man was weak, “Ms Borg jumped into the sea to help the elderly man. Her husband followed soon after and the two kept the man afloat”

However, they found it difficult “to help the man up their boat’s ladder”. A boat with two foreigners aboard then came over to assist.

Meanwhile, Zarb had called for help and members of the AFM came to the scene and took Gatt to shore from where he was driven to hospital, the same sources were quoted as saying.

Controversy

The incident was surrounded in controversy after it was revealed that the sailing yacht s/y Sorcery was returned to its owner John Zarb after just a two-hour inspection by the court expert.

The Armed Forces had to clarify that it was not involved in the decision to release a sailing yacht involved in a fatal boating incident this week, back to its owner John Zarb.

Questions were raised on the thoroughness of the court expert’s inquiry into the boating incident that saw the s/y Sorcery ram into a boat, killing 81-year-old John Gatt Baldacchino, by union newspaper l-orizzont.

According to l-orizzont that day, court expert Dr Joseph Zammit went aboard the s/y Sorcery to conduct his preliminary investigation at 1:15pm and reportedly allowed Zarb – a senior partner in the PricewaterhouseCoopers firm – to regain possession of the yacht a few hours after the incident, and before the cause of death was established in the autopsy.

The army said the yacht was held at the Haywharf Base pending the inspections for the preliminary investigations, which are still underway, by both the Police authorities and the appointed magisterial court-expert. “The yacht was released from the military base upon instructions issued by those appointed to conduct these said investigations,” an army spokesperson said.

Speculation abounds on the thoroughness of the court expert’s inquiry: whether checks on the boat – a 10-year old Oyster 53 valued at some €660,000 – included inspections of the navigation instruments and the engine’s functioning. Central to these questions is the fact that the yacht – an article of evidence – was actually released back to the owner after just two days.

The incident had prompted another inquiry, this time launched by the transport ministry, and led by expert maritime lawyer George Said.

Zarb was reported to have thrown a lifebuoy to the Gatt Baldacchino and that his wife Nadja Zarb jumped into sea, swimming to Gatt Baldacchino and even managing to get him close to the yacht. But the man was to heavy to lift into the yacht.

No mention of this attempt to save Gatt Baldacchino's life was mentioned in the official statement by the AFM on the incident.