The owner of the sailing yacht involved in a collision that led to the death of an 81-year-old man last Monday helped police locate the victim's sunken fishing boat yesterday, sources said.
The boat was retrieved from the seabed late in the morning and taken to the Armed Forces of Malta's maritime base in Haywharf. It will be examined by a court expert to try to establish whether the fishing boat was moving or stationary at the time of the collision that occurred around half a kilometre off Tigné Point.
This may help investigators get to the bottom of what caused the accident, and determine whether any charges should be brought, sources said.
Joseph Gatt was thrown overboard when his small fishing boat was involved in a collision with a sailing boat, Sorcery, belonging to John Zarb from Naxxar.
Mr Gatt died some time later in hospital and autopsy results, released on Wednesday, revealed that the cause of death was "asphyxia due to drowning".
The cause of the accident may be difficult to determine given there were no witnesses who saw the collision take place.
Sources said the two people on the yacht, Mr Zarb and his wife, did not see what happened.
They only realised what had happened after they heard a loud bang and looked towards the sea, where they saw flotsam around them. They then spotted Mr Gatt in the water and threw a lifebuoy and a rope.
When they realised the man was weak, Ms Zarb jumped into the sea to help the elderly man. Her husband followed soon after and the two kept the man afloat, the sources said.
They found it difficult to help the man up their boat's ladder. A boat with two foreigners aboard then came over to assist.
Meanwhile, Mr Zarb called for help and members of the AFM came to the scene and took Mr Gatt to shore from where he was driven to hospital.
A magisterial inquiry, headed by Magistrate Edwina Grima, was launched. Transport Minister Austin Gatt also ordered an inquiry into the accident in line with the Merchant Shipping Act.
Questions were raised because the yacht was not seized by the court during the inquiry and was released only hours after the accident - before the autopsy results were published.
Sources said the vessel was released after a court-appointed marine expert carried out all the necessary inspections and documented his findings. Given that the owner of the boat, and his wife, cooperated with police, the court expert recommended there was no need to seize the vessel and the magistrate agreed, sources added.
Lawyer Veronique Dalli, who was not involved in the collision case, said vehicles involved in accidents were usually seized if there was a need to carry out further forensic tests and investigations after the accident.
"If the court was morally convinced that there was no need to seize the object, or that the seized item could be released, then there was no reason to keep it," she said.
Her colleague Joseph Giglio described the fact that the yacht was not seized as "unusual". He said that, in most cases, vehicles involved in such incidents were seized during the magisterial inquiry and exhibited as part of the proceedings.
An independent marine expert said that, ideally, the yacht should have been impounded until the cause of death was determined.