A Queensland inquest into the deaths of two fishermen on a trawler that sank in rough seas has heard the vessel had an out-of-date safety system.

March 19, 2019

When FV Cassandra sank, killing the two men aboard three years ago, it had a skipper who didn’t know the notoriously rough seas, its forward escape hatch welded shut and an out-of-date safety system.

The boat’s former owner, Dennis Markwell, has painted a bleak picture of the prawn trawling operation onboard FV Cassandra at a Queensland inquest into the two deaths three years ago.

The trawler overturned and sank off the northeastern tip of Fraser Island, killing skipper Matt Roberts, 61, and crewman David Chivers, 36, on April 4, 2016.

Their bodies have never been found.

Mr Markwell, now retired, told counsel assisting the coroner, John Aberdeen, he wouldn’t fish in the area where the Cassandra sank to a depth of 47 metres because of rough currents.

The inquest in Gladstone heard he was responsible for the boat’s operation and oversaw its refit at Tin Can Bay with unqualified boatbuilder Stephen Armitage months before the skipper started work.

Mr Markwell was himself responsible for welding shut the forward hatch to the boat’s sleeping quarters because “it was rusting and leaking”.

“When I bought the boat it didn’t even work,” he said.

He told the inquest he didn’t know if the sudden impact of water rushing through the wheelhouse when the boat rolled could have pushed the crew into the sleeping quarters.

Nor did he know if the emergency hatch, if working, could have acted as an emergency exit for the pair.

“I don’t want to think about those things,” the lifelong fisherman said.

Huge swells prevented rescuers reaching the stricken vessel when it rolled 10 kilometres off Waddy Point about 3am. 

Neither of the vessel’s two emergency radio beacons were activated.

The boat is thought to have tipped over after one of its four huge prawn nets caught on the seafloor.

The boat’s safety management system had no instructions on how to deal with “hookups” and the only copy was kept in a drawer aboard the boat, Mr Markwell said.

The inquest began on Tuesday hearing Mr Aberdeen say that lifesaving equipment was found tangled in rigging and failed to deploy.

An underwater video camera showed life rafts still attached to the boat.

They are supposed to automatically launch when the boat capsizes.

The vessel’s structural soundness, whether there was adequate safety equipment on board, and if the search and rescue operation was sufficient is being explored by coroner David O’Connell.

Experts will give evidence on whether future deaths could be prevented by making it compulsory for fishermen to wear life jackets.

Access to personal location beacons and “grab bags” containing diving masks and portable air tanks in an emergency will also be considered.

The inquest continues on Wednesday.