Trawler 'ignored' rescue pleas

An Italian trawler, which passed by just "minutes" after the Simshar exploded a year ago this month, ignored pleas for assistance by the crew drifting in the sea, according to sole survivor Simon Bugeja.

The information, never revealed publicly by Mr Bugeja, emerges from a 149-page inquiry report into the tragedy, tabled in Parliament yesterday.

In his testimony, spread out over five interviews, Mr Bugeja refused to reveal the details of the blue trawler from Lampedusa that navigated some 20 metres away from the crew because he said he feared for the safety of his second son.

The tragedy cost the lives of Mr Bugeja's 11-year-old son Theo, his 61-year-old father Karmenu and another two fishermen, Noel Carabott and Somali national Abdulrahman Gedi, aged 33 and 21 respectively.

Mr Bugeja survived after spending 11 days at sea on a makeshift raft.

The new evidence regarding the Italian trawler appears to be contradicted in the same report by a list, which shows that there were no known vessels in a three-kilometre radius up to four hours after the explosion.

And this is only one of the questions the report raises. The explosion itself, which remains central to the whole tragedy, remains unexplained.

In fact, its author, lawyer Anne Fenech, who was appointed by Transport Minister Austin Gatt to carry out an inquiry, admits in the first few pages that, after 11 months of inquiry, she is not "in possession of additional evidence, which could confirm that what Simon Bugeja said happened..."

In his very first interviews, Mr Bugeja pretended he was asleep, the report says, even though doctors had cleared him as being able to speak.

When he speaks about the botched rescue attempt, he recounts how he called out for help but the trawler, which he recognised, just kept circling them.

In his desperation, he even tried to grab their fishing line and swim in front of the boat to stop them but nothing worked. In a last attempt, he offered those on board €3,000 so they would at least save his son but the trawler kept going.

The report points out four areas of inconsistency in Mr Bugeja's testimony.

The first concerns inconsistencies in his version of events surrounding the explosion. In the first interview he said they all got blown off the boat in a large explosion. In a second interview, he said that he and the others were pushed to the front by an explosion and that they were thrown overboard by a second.

The report also highlights an inconsistency in the claim that nobody was injured in the explosion when Mr Gedi was found to have sustained serious burns to the chest and back. It also flags his claiming that the fire lasted six hours, when an expert says it is unlikely to have lasted more than two-and-a-half hours.

The fact that he gave two versions on what happened to the life raft: first that it was blown away and the second that it did not work, is also noted.

That said, Dr Fenech insists she has not come across any evidence that can seriously challenge the basic indications that there was an explosion, that a fire totally consumed the boat, that everyone ended overboard and that all except Mr Bugeja started to pass away one by one and that there was no foul play involved in the tragedy.

The report does point a finger at Mr Bugeja in terms of his lack of knowledge about the "more than adequate" safety and radio equipment he had on board.

It points out that he did not know how to activate the distress signals on two safety devices, which would have otherwise saved their lives.

In fact, Dr Fenech makes a series of recommendations aimed at addressing a "very cavalier attitude" towards safety by fishermen in general.