We feared this sort of tragedy would happen, say local fishermen

Wednesday 30th March 2011, 2:29PM BST.

Guernsey Fishermen’s Association president Dougal Lane said that he was on a boat which was nearly hit by another vessel which didn’t see it on radar. (1116251)

FISHERMEN have questioned how Condor Vitesse could have collided with a French vessel in thick fog given today’s modern technology.

Mick Saunders, 68, said the incident in which a French fisherman, who was a father of four, lost his life was a tragedy.

‘I was hoping he would have survived.

‘It’s something that we thought would happen,’ said Mr Saunders.

‘We don’t know how many ships get hit over – container ships wouldn’t even know they’d hit anything.’

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1
James

March 31, 2011 at 1:10 am

This presents a tedious dichotomy.
Fishermen have questioned how this could happen with modern technology, yet it’s something they thought would happen?

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2
SS

March 31, 2011 at 9:38 am

Its a terrible accident and my sympathy goes out to this guys family. It should be warning to other fisherman – don’t stray into shipping lanes – its not rocket science.

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3
Geoffrey

March 31, 2011 at 9:56 am

Obvious condolences to the Family, however being a retired Captain with 50 years at sea in both cargo ships and trawlers of all sizes, the weather is always an issue, the fog at the time was particularly bad but the route is a well known shipping channel for large vessels at speed, fisherman in particular should be aware of the hazards involved in this weather, my feelings of sorrow also include the Captain of the Vittesse, this is something he will never recover from.

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4
simon

April 1, 2011 at 3:20 pm

Geoffrey
Do the maritime rules for vessels traveling during periods of low visability apply to vessels like the Condor?

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