Officer of ferry sent to prison due to omissions causing death of a fisherman
The 2nd Officer of the "Scottish Viking" was sentenced for his role in the death of a fisherman and has been sent to prison.
Pasquale Miccio pleaded guilty to a breach of section 58 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 as amended, on March 24, 2016 in the High Court of Justiciary, Glasgow. Ge admitted his actions or omissions were responsible for the death of Daniel McNeil who was a crew member of the fishing vessel "Homeland" on Aug 5, 2010.
Miccio was serving as second officer aboard the "Scottish Viking" which was on a regular service between Rosyth and Zeebrugge. He was the navigating officer when the Ferry sailed from Rosyth at 4:30 p.m. At 6:10 p.m., the lookout reported seeing fishing vessels ahead and to starboard and the second officer made a small alteration of course.
The lookout continued to point out the proximity of the fishing vessels and at 6:35 p.m., a further slight alteration of course was made. Despite these warnings the second officer made no further alterations of course or speed.
The "Homeland" sailed from Eyemouth along with other vessels of the local fishing fleet at around 6 p.m. Joseph McNeil was working on the deck mending a net when, about 30 minutes later, he heard a warning blast from a nearby boat, the Achieve and heard the skipper calling to him on the VHF.
He went forward and looked out of his wheelhouse to see the "Scottish Viking" just seconds before it struck. He and his brother managed to clamber onto the wheelhouse roof but the boat went down very quickly.
The "Serene y Don" - another local boat - threw Joseph a life ring and pulled him to safety but Daniel could not be found. In the High Court in Edinburgh the judge, his Lordship Lord Bannatyne, on Apr 25, 2016 said that the day had been a dreadful tragedy in that Daniel McNeil had lost his life and his family their son and brother.
Miccio as the officer in charge was responsible for the failures and omissions and had failed to take actions that would have prevented the death of the young man. Sentencing him to 12 months in prison, reduced to eight months, the judge said he had taken into account mitigation that there were other contributory factors to the incident and that Miccio had no previous accidents.
Captain Bill Bennett, surveyor in charge, for the Maritime & Coastguard Agency said that the case highlighted the need to maintain a proper lookout. He added it also reinforced the need for every vessel to use all available means to determine if a risk of collision exists and to take early positive action to avoid that collision.
The 2nd Officer of the "Scottish Viking" was sentenced for his role in the death of a fisherman and has been sent to prison.
Pasquale Miccio pleaded guilty to a breach of section 58 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 as amended, on March 24, 2016 in the High Court of Justiciary, Glasgow. Ge admitted his actions or omissions were responsible for the death of Daniel McNeil who was a crew member of the fishing vessel "Homeland" on Aug 5, 2010.
Miccio was serving as second officer aboard the "Scottish Viking" which was on a regular service between Rosyth and Zeebrugge. He was the navigating officer when the Ferry sailed from Rosyth at 4:30 p.m. At 6:10 p.m., the lookout reported seeing fishing vessels ahead and to starboard and the second officer made a small alteration of course.
The lookout continued to point out the proximity of the fishing vessels and at 6:35 p.m., a further slight alteration of course was made. Despite these warnings the second officer made no further alterations of course or speed.
The "Homeland" sailed from Eyemouth along with other vessels of the local fishing fleet at around 6 p.m. Joseph McNeil was working on the deck mending a net when, about 30 minutes later, he heard a warning blast from a nearby boat, the Achieve and heard the skipper calling to him on the VHF.
He went forward and looked out of his wheelhouse to see the "Scottish Viking" just seconds before it struck. He and his brother managed to clamber onto the wheelhouse roof but the boat went down very quickly.
The "Serene y Don" - another local boat - threw Joseph a life ring and pulled him to safety but Daniel could not be found. In the High Court in Edinburgh the judge, his Lordship Lord Bannatyne, on Apr 25, 2016 said that the day had been a dreadful tragedy in that Daniel McNeil had lost his life and his family their son and brother.
Miccio as the officer in charge was responsible for the failures and omissions and had failed to take actions that would have prevented the death of the young man. Sentencing him to 12 months in prison, reduced to eight months, the judge said he had taken into account mitigation that there were other contributory factors to the incident and that Miccio had no previous accidents.
Captain Bill Bennett, surveyor in charge, for the Maritime & Coastguard Agency said that the case highlighted the need to maintain a proper lookout. He added it also reinforced the need for every vessel to use all available means to determine if a risk of collision exists and to take early positive action to avoid that collision.