| UK. P&O Pride of Bilbao worker arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in yacht Ouzo deaths |
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| Thursday, 21 September 2006 | |
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Marian Martin P&O has confirmed that a 61 year old man, who was working on its Pride of Bilbao ferry, the night that the yacht Ouzo went missing was arrested, yesterday, on suspicion of causing manslaughter through gross negligence. He has been released on bail pending further inquiries. On August 23, following the discovery of a body in the water, a very large search was conducted in the Solent area by an RAF Nimrod, RNLI lifeboats, police units and coastguard teams, including the helicopters Whiskey Bravo and India. No trace of the yacht was found, but two further bodies were recovered. Jason Downer, James Meaby and Rupert Saunders had left Bembridge, on the Isle of Wight, to sail to Dartmouth, in their Sailfish Ouzo, where they were to take part in a regatta. The failure to locate the yacht and the fact that no distress call was made led to speculation that the yacht might have been in collision with a larger vessel and the Marine Accident Investigation Board (MAIB) approached a number of companies asking for their ships’ black box voice data recorders. The black box from P & O’s Pride of Bilbao revealed some, as yet undisclosed, information, which led to further investigations and MAIB conducted an inspection of the ferry’s hull and interviewed the officers of the watch. |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 21 September 2006 ) |
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