'No safety equipment' on sunk Pembroke Dock fishing boat

Accident investigators say there was no evidence of lifesaving equipment on board a fishing boat that sank with the loss of one of two crew members.

John Askey, 31, from Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire, "would probably have survived" if he had been wearing a life jacket, a report has concluded. He was with his brother-in-law Douglas Hook on their boat's maiden voyage when it sank in Carmarthen Bay in June. Mr Hook, 38, of Pembroke Dock, survived in cold waters for almost 10 hours.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report said the boat, the Pamela S, went down on a "fine calm day." It said the vessel had "a very low level of inherent stability", electrical faults, no bilge alarm and was missing bolts from the base of the stern gantry. The report said the vessel capsized as water flooded the wheelhouse, at which point the two men went into the sea and started to swim towards a navigation buoy but the tide carried them away.

Mr Askey eventually died after a massive fit and Mr Hook was forced to leave his body as darkness fell.

"Extraordinarily, almost 10 hours after the sinking, the skipper staggered ashore at Pendine beach in the early hours of June 18," said the report. "He was discovered by a member of the public, who fortuitously was a trained first-aider and who kept the skipper warm until medical assistance arrived."

Steve Clinch, the MAIB deputy chief inspector of marine accidents, told BBC Radio Wales that in some countries it was a legal requirement to put on a life jacket on such a vessel at sea: "If people understand the risks they are more likely to wear lifejackets," said Mr Clinch.

Shortly after the sinking, Mr Hook, who had married Mr Askey's sister, Louise, last year, and has a young daughter, said he would have drowned if his brother-in-law had not pulled him to safety as the boat sank. He said at the time: "[John] was a great friend, someone who had the sea in his veins. I don't know why I'm here and not John. I think the freezing temperatures got to him more."

The MAIB report recommended improved safety measures for similar-sized fishing vessels (less than 15m).

Whatever the circumstances, practical accident support, compensation claim assistance and legal advice is available free of charge from our expert First Response team on freephone 0800 037 1066.

Free legal advice direct to your inbox: Ask Law Answers your compensation claim legal question.