An inquest into the eight deaths after two vessels sank off Queensland has wrapped up, with the mother of a diver saying more safety measures were needed.

March 29, 2019

A Queensland coroner is considering the words of the mother of a fisherman lost when a trawler capsized off Queensland who said the crew deserved to have been rescued, not recovered.

Coroner David O’Connell has retired to consider his findings after a two-week inquest into the deaths of eight men after two fishing vessel tragedies.

This week he investigated in Gladstone the deaths of men when the FV Dianne rolled and sank off the Town of 1770 on October 16, 2017.

The inquest heard the vessel had all the correct safety gear but in the dark, as the boat flooded, none of the crew could reach it.

On Thursday, Adam Bidner’s mother, Kay, urged the coroner to recommend increased safety measures for commercial fishing boats in his findings.

“They were out there in their work place doing their job,” she said.

Ms Bidner backed a proposal for the Fisheries Department to share commercial fishing boat location data with emergency services to add another layer of safety for fishermen.

Barrister Matthew Holmes, acting for lost Dianne crewman Adam Hoffman, said life jackets with personal locator beacons, survival equipment and lighting that would activate in an emergency should be considered.

Life raft requirements must also be reassessed, given rafts on both doomed vessels became entangled and failed to deploy when the boats rolled, he said.

He also recommended white goods be properly secured after a fridge was found blocking the escape route from the accommodation cabin where two men’s bodies were discovered.

The crewmen on the Dianne were relaxing in their bunks when it began rolling to the port side about 7.30pm.

After it capsized, sole survivor Ruben McDornan forced a door open against the rushing water and swam to the surface. None of the others made it out.

Mr Hoffman, 30, Eli Tonks, 39, Mr Bidner, 33, Zach Feeney, 28, Chris Sammut, 34, and Mr Leahy, 45, died despite the Dianne being fitted with life jackets, EPIRBs, grab bags and a life raft.

It’s likely the vessel fell victim to a combination of a “washing machine” sea and high winds, the court heard.

Ropes found coiled around the propeller were also considered to be a possible cause for the boat capsizing.

Last week the inquest explored the sinking of FV Cassandra on April 4, 2016, after one of the prawn trawler’s nets hooked on the seafloor.

The bodies of Cassandra skipper Matt Roberts, 61, and his crewman David Chivers, 36, have never been found.

It’s likely it rolled and sank in early hours while trying to recover the $12,000 net, the court heard.

Wild seas prevented rescuers from reaching the two men, who were thought to have been in the cabin before the vessel went down.

A forward hatch, which could have acted as an escape route, was found to be welded shut and the boat’s safety management system hadn’t been updated to include information about “hookups”.

The Cassandra’s lifesaving equipment tangled in rigging and also failed to deploy, the inquest was told.