A MINISTRY of Defence vessel, on which a 17-year-old crewman was
killed, was described yesterday by the ship's first mate as a ''rust
bucket and a heap''.
Derek Crammond, 49, who was also the deck safety officer aboard the
Clyde-based Royal Marine Auxiliary Service ship Goosander, was giving
evidence at a fatal accident inquiry in Dunoon.
Mr Crammond, of Levann Avenue, Gourock, was on duty aboard the marine
salvage vessel on January 9 this year when Alan McHenery died.
Mr McHenery, of Eastern View, Gourock, who had joined the ship as a
trainee two weeks earlier, was hit by a wire hawser which snapped as it
was being used to lift mooring buoys left in the Holy Loch when the US
Navy departed.
Mr Crammond said: ''The Goosander was a rust bucket and we complained
on numerous occasions to the MoD that we were not happy with the
performance of the ship's lifting gear. This was drawn to everybody's
attention.
''There was too much wire wound round the winches; they were rigged
all wrong and this reduced their pulling power. All of the crew
considered them to be inferior.''
The inquiry, before Sheriff John Herald, continues on Friday.
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