The owner of a tug boat which capsized killing three crew has admitted health and safety failures.
The Flying Phantom sank in freezing fog in December 2007 while towing a cargo vessel on the River Clyde near Glasgow.
At the High Court in Glasgow today, tug company Svitzer Marine Limited pleaded guilty to a series of health and safety breaches including failing to put in place a safe operating procedure following the grounding of the Flying Phantom in foggy conditions in a previous incident in December 2000.
Stephen Humphreys, 33, from Greenock, Inverclyde, Eric Blackley, 57, from Gourock, and Bob Cameron, 65, from Houston, Renfrewshire, died when the tug sank.
A fourth man, Brian Aitchison, 37, from Coldingham in the Borders, was rescued.
The accident happened when The Flying Phantom was towing the Red Jasmine vessel in the Clyde Harbour area on the evening of December 19.
Dense fog severely restricted visibility and the crew could not see the boat they were towing.
The larger vessel overtook the tug and caused it to capsize.
Svitzer Marine admitted "failing to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work" of the crew.
The Flying Phantom suffered £150,000 of damage when a vessel it was towing on the Clyde in 2000 collided with the tug in similar circumstances, the court heard.
Svitzer Marine Limited said it "greatly regretted" the health and safety failures which led to the tragedy.
Peter Gray QC, acting for Svitzer, said the company was a "conscientious and reputable" employer that took pride in its safety record before the incident.
"Ever since December 19 2007, it has been a matter of the greatest regret that, in relation to the towing in restricted visibility, it failed to meet the very high standards it sets itself," he said.
Stephen Humphreys, 33, from Greenock, Inverclyde, Eric Blackley, 57, from Gourock, and Bob Cameron, 65, from Houston, Renfrewshire, died when the Flying Phantom was overtaken by the vessel it was towing, the Red Jasmine, and capsized.
Lord Turnbull will sentence Svitzer, whose UK office is in Middlesbrough, next month.
Port operator Clydeport Operations Limited is also being prosecuted over the incident. A hearing will take place in Edinburgh in December.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article