Earthrace collides with fishing vessel

Earthrace, the bio-diesel fuelled powerboat that is stopping over in Malta in its attempt to circumnavigate the world, collided with a small fibreglass fishing boat off the coast of Guatemala at 12.30 a.m. local time on March 17. The collision left one fisherman lost, presumed drowned, and a second seriously injured in hospital.

This incident, when Earthrace was en-route from Panama to Acapulco, on the second leg of the world record attempt caused a delay in the following legs and to the Malta visit, planned for the middle of the month, which is being co-ordinated by local bio-diesel producers EORC of Marsa.

Engineer Anthony Distefano spotted a small white and red flashing light directly ahead just before the collision. According to maritime law, flashing lights are to be used as navigational aids, marking things such as channels. Boats are marked with solid white, red and green lights only.

Distefano, an experienced boat captain, had assumed the flashing light was on some form of beacon, and was checking the GPS system to locate the 'beacon'. The small size of the bulb gave him the impression the light was still considerable distance away. A few seconds later, Earthrace collided with the vessel, about 5m in length.