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Clydeport fined after Flying Phantom deaths Clydeport fined £650,000 after Flying Phantom tug deaths
(35 minutes later)
Port operator Clydeport has been fined £650,000 for health and safety breaches which emerged after three men drowned in the River Clyde. Port operator Clydeport has been fined £650,000 over health and safety failures after three men drowned when their tugboat sank in the River Clyde.
Stephen Humphreys, 33, Eric Blackley, 57, and Robert Cameron, 65, were crew on the Flying Phantom, which capsized in thick fog on 19 December 2007.Stephen Humphreys, 33, Eric Blackley, 57, and Robert Cameron, 65, were crew on the Flying Phantom, which capsized in thick fog on 19 December 2007.
Last week Clydeport pleaded guilty to several health and safety breaches. Clydeport originally denied breaching health and safety laws but changed its plea to guilty last week.
Tugboat owner Svitzer Marine was previously fined £1.7m after admitting failures. Tugboat owner Svitzer Marine was fined £1.7m after it admitted failures.
Clydeport admitted failing to have in place an adequate contingency plan if fog was encountered, especially when a large vessel was being towed.
It also admitted failing to provide a safety management system and to appoint a suitable individual or individuals as the designated person.
A trial was originally fixed in the case at the High Court in Edinburgh before the plea was negotiated last week.
Judge Lord Kinclaven said the court required to mark the seriousness of the offending by imposing "a substantial fine" on Clydeport.
Advocate depute Gillian Wade QC, prosecuting, earlier told the court: "The charge before the court relates to failures on the part of Clydeport to adequately assess risks and provide a safe system of work.
"The present charge is not that Clydeport was the proximate cause of the December 2007 incident by their failures," she said.
'Breaches of duty'
The prosecutor said the introduction of new work instructions had ensured "a more robust safety regime for those engaged in towage on the Clyde".
She told the court that a suitable and sufficient risk assessment should have addressed the issue of large vessels encountering thick fog during transit.
Richard Keen QC, counsel for Clydeport, told Lord Kinclaven that when Svitzer pleaded guilty last year it was on the express basis that their breaches of duty had caused the "girting" and sinking of the tug.
"Here in the case of Svitzer clearly their breaches of duty were a significant cause of the death of three men, but it is not the case that any breaches here by Clydeport were a significant cause of such deaths," he said.
"A review, an investigation of Clydeport's systems discloses that it could and indeed should have done things better."
The QC added: "There are no aggravating features here such as a party being told they are not doing it right and then doing nothing about it."
Mr Keen said Clydeport would continue to strive to minimise the hazards linked with navigation on the Clyde.
Crewman escape
The Flying Phantom, which was based at Greenock, Inverclyde, capsized and sank in heavy fog opposite Clydebank College in West Dunbartonshire on 19 December 2007.
At the time of the accident, it had been towing the 77,000-ton Red Jasmine cargo ship, which was carrying a large load of animal feed.
Crewman Brian Aitchison, 37, from Coldingham, was rescued from the water after he managed to escape from the tug's wheelhouse.
The bodies of skipper Mr Humphreys, from Greenock, Mr Cameron, from Houston in Renfrewshire, and Mr Blackley, from Gourock, were later recovered.
The tug itself was raised in a salvage operation the following month.
An inquiry by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) later concluded that the tug's towing winch had not released quickly enough, which meant it was capsized by the vessel it was pulling.
The report also highlighted failings in procedure to ensure the tug operated safely in foggy weather.