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Accuracy of Inquiry into Laura Gainey's Loss at Sea to Be Reviewed By Cda Agency

Posted on: Wednesday, 29 August 2007, 21:17 CDT

By MICHAEL TUTTON

HALIFAX (CP) - The accuracy of a safety investigation into how Laura Gainey was swept off the tall ship Picton Castle is being reviewed by a Canadian agency at the request of her family.

Ken Potter, head of marine safety at the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, confirmed Wednesday he has a draft of the long-awaited report into the tragic incident. Gainey, the daughter of Montreal Canadiens manager Bob Gainey, was swept overboard and disappeared Dec. 8 during a fierce storm 900 kilometres southeast of Cape Cod.

The report was prepared by a review panel in the Cook Islands, the South Pacific nation where the training vessel is registered, even though it is based in Lunenburg, N.S.

"We requested ... a copy of the draft report. That's normal under international protocols and they have provided us with a copy," Potter said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

"Additionally, the Gainey family has approached us and requested we review the report and the supporting documentation around it. I think they had some concerns about the report and its veracity, and they asked us to take a look at it as a second sight."

In the months since the 25-year-old was lost at sea, a former crew member has said there wasn't a standing order in place for crew to wear safety lines and life-jackets in severe storms.

The ship's captain has declined to comment on that issue.

Gainey wasn't wasn't wearing a life-jacket or safety line when she went overboard.

Potter said it was premature to comment on the quality of the document from the Cook Islands as investigators haven't had a chance to fully review it yet.

Cook Islands officials will determine when the full report is released to the public.

However, he confirmed the agency has appointed its own investigator, who has been given authority to interview witnesses.

Prior to the Cook Islands probe, an initial investigation was conducted by retired naval captain Andrew Scheer, owner of a small consultancy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. It was released in March to the Cook Islands ships registry.

Aukino Tairea, the country's transport secretary, later appointed a three-person panel that included a New Zealand lawyer, a Cook Islands police inspector and a member of the island's ship registry.

Asked if the panel had any problems with the initial report, Tairea said in an earlier interview that it "didn't quite provide the information that stacked up with some of the information provided by the ship, or the captain's stuff. "

"The board found it difficult to understand the chain of events that have happened, and some of the processes on the vessel itself."

Meanwhile, the International Transport Worker's Federation, a trade union group that represents seafarers around the world, has criticized the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and Transport Canada for not conducting its own inquiry.

In the days after the Gainey's death, officials with the safety board exchanged e-mails discussing whether they should become involved in the case.

Three days after the incident, in an e-mail released under federal Access to Information legislation, Potter said: "My first reaction is not to have the TSB involved, but to offer whatever support the Cook Islands needs if they choose to investigate."

The agency concluded that normal international practice would be to allow the flag state to carry out the safety inquiry.

"We've agreed with the Gaineys to have a look at the document to see if it was properly analyzed and if the facts were correct that were in the document," he said.

"Not just from the Gaineys, but this is what we had expected to do for the Cook Islands anyway ... This is quite normal for international cases."

Potter said he will report any findings to the agency's board of directors and the chairman of the board will decide how to proceed.

"That could take anywhere from weeks to months at this point."

Source: Canadian Press

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