Tugboat captain Dane Ellis has been cleared of causing the
death of his shipmate Ian Webb after the latter fell from a jetty into the River
Mersey.
Webb, 62, died after falling into the river from a jetty
at Tranmere Oil Terminal in early 2019. He had been working as the chief
engineer of tugboat Millgarth (IMO 9144122) during what the court heard
was a “violent storm”.
During the trial at Liverpool Crown Court Ellis, 36, had
been accused of giving his subordinate crew member “extremely and
obviously dangerous” orders which were said to have led to the
“unnecessary and avoidable incident”. The failed rescue mission was
described by the prosecution as “disjointed and haphazard”.
However, a jury found him not guilty of failing to
discharge properly duties as master of a ship which caused or was likely to
have caused death or serious injury to a person.
The majority verdict was delivered on December 22nd after more than six hours of deliberations.
Svitzer Marine Ltd was the boat’s operator. It had been
contracted to assist large vessels in mooring up at the site. Ellis had worked
for the firm since 2004, qualifying as a master in 2015.
Mr Webb had been employed by the company and its predecessors
for 30 years.
Coastguard Agency, said that weather conditions on
January 27th 2019 had been “terrible”, with “very
highs winds” and a “large swell” of between two and three
metres. Shortly before 18:00 local time the Millgarth received a request for assistance
from a ferry. Ellis tasked Mr Webb with climbing ashore, undoing the three
ropes which were tying it to the north jetty then coming back aboard. When
returning to the ship, Ellis did not position the boat inline with the steps.
He instead directed his colleague to undertake what was described in court as a
“relatively risky balancing exercise”.
This involved clambering over a section of timber which
had been damaged earlier in the day by the Millgarth, then off the jetty and
onto a fender intended to protect it from being damaged by mooring ships.
The top of this fender was located 30cm below the jetty
and a step away from it, with a gap in between leading to the Mersey below. Mr
Webb was said to have been required to do this while the tugboat was rolling
and pitching.
It was claimed in court that there was an “obvious
risk of him losing his balance and falling or of him being hit by the
tugboat” as it attempted to pick him up.
After Webb fell into the river, the rescue attempts by
Ellis and two other crewmates were said to have been “disjointed and
haphazard”. He was eventually pulled out of the water by Merseyside Fire
and Rescue Service 20 minutes after he had entered the water. He was taken to
hospital, but declared dead on arrival shortly after 19:00, with the cause of
death being determined to be cardiac arrest.
Under interview, Ellis gave a prepared statement to
police in which he said he had been “trained to use the fender as a step”.
He also said he was “unaware” that the actual steps were coated in
non-slip material, and had not used them because he believed if he lined the
ship up with them the boat’s fender could damage the jetty.
Svitzer previously admitted two offences under the Health
and Safety Act, and will be sentenced at a later date.
1997-built, UK-flagged, 374 gt Millgarth is owned and
managed by Svitzer marine Ltd of Middlesbrough, UK. It is entered with Skuld
