THE MARINE casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) has warned that alcohol consumption increases risk on water.
It was commenting on the publication yesterday of its inquiry into the drowning of two men off Inishbofin island, Co Galway, last year.
Former Mayo footballer Ger Feeney (56) and businessman Donal McEllin (63) from Castlebar, Co Mayo, drowned in the early hours of October 10th last year as they tried to board a cruiser moored in Inishbofin harbour.
The investigation board concluded that the fatalities “most likely resulted from a combination” of factors.
These included “executing a night-time transfer from a small inflatable tender to a vessel that was swinging on a mooring, possible tiredness and diminished human performance resulting from the effects of alcohol consumed during the preceding hours while socialising ashore”.
The two men were en route from Clew Bay to Galway docks in Mr McEllin’s motor yacht, Quo Vadis, when they stopped overnight at Inishbofin.
Both spent a “number of hours” socialising in Day’s pub on the island, and Ian Day told gardaí that he offered to ferry the pair out to their boat in the early hours of October 10th, due to concern for their safety.
They declined and said they needed their own tender, and Mr Day drove his jeep to the end of the pier to reassure himself that they had returned.
“It had been agreed with both men that they would turn off the external lights on the vessel when they safely boarded as an indication to those ashore that all was in order, “the report says. “This they failed to do, but Mr Day assumed that they had merely forgotten about it,” it says.
There were no witnesses to the incident. The bodies of both men were discovered later that morning. Both were wearing personal flotation devices, but the jacket worn by Mr McEllin had become entangled around his neck and head.
“The vessel and tender were in good order. No fault was found in either craft that could be linked with or that could be associated with the deaths of both men,” it says.
The postmortem results found that the blood alcohol levels in both men were more than twice the legal limit for driving road vehicles.
The Maritime Safety Act 2005 provides legislation to limit alcohol or drug levels on those in charge of a vessel, but there has been no convictions to date under the act and it has been criticised for lacking teeth.
