FERRIES are being urged to watch their speed in a Scottish sea loch where a Leigh dad and his two sons died in a boating tragedy.
The advice was issued by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) in its report into the incident, but the two survivors of the disaster say the report is a 'whitewash'.
Shaun Ridley, aged 37, and his sons Steven, aged 15, and 13-year-old Michael, from Abbey Lane, were killed after a huge wave overturned their speedboat on Loch Ryan. The tragedy happened in July last year when the family were on holiday near Stranraer, along with Mr Ridley's father Brian, aged 61 and family friend Harry Haughton, 58.
The MAIB said the cause of the wave which swamped their boat was not clear.
"There was only one thing that caused it - the ferry which left Stranraer for Belfast. It passed about 200 yards from us," Mr Haughton said after the report had been published.
"We expected and we got a whitewash. All the questions we have asked they have rubbished."
And his longtime friend Mr Ridley echoed those thoughts: "From day one they didn't want to blame the ferries. If they have to slow down going out of the loch it costs time getting to Belfast and to the ferry operators that is money."
The report said the fishing boat had been vulnerable because it was overloaded, modifications to the hull had reduced buoyancy and its engine was poorly maintained. The 4.6m long boat sank near Lady Bay after a large wave shorted the battery, stopping the bilge pump and engine.
Mr Ridley said: "As far as we knew when Shaun bought the boat nobody ever mentioned any "modifications."
"It was supposed to be one of the most stable designs you can get. It was licensed for six passengers and we were assured the 65 horsepower Johnson engine was OK."
The MAIB report said that a ferry sailing nearby created waves which overcame the vessel four minutes before she was finally swamped. Shaun Ridley died while trying to save his two sons, who were wearing the boat's only two life jackets.
He and his son Michael were still alive when a lifeboat crew pulled them from the water more than five hours later, but they died in hospital.
Steven's body was recovered six weeks after the incident.
The boys' grandfather and Mr Haughton survived by roping themselves to the hull of their boat until they were spotted by the crew of a passing yacht.
The MAIB's report recommended that ferries' deck officers "should be made fully conversant with critical speed wash production and the associated inherent dangers."
Mr Haughton disputed some of the MAIB findings: "We weren't ill-equipped at all. We had been fishing for six hours and everybody had done well. There was a heatwave with temperatures in the 70s and the boys had just phoned their mum and told her what a good day they had had.
Mr Ridley said: "When we realised we were going down the first thing we did was make sure the lads had their lifejackets on. Shaun had a full flotation one and was upright in the water when they found him. Steven was very slim and slipped out of his. We had the best equipment. There was one lifejacket unused and left on board when the boat sank - we didn't bother with it because we were more concerned that Steven and Michael got their's on."
The pair, who have been mates all their lives, said the report criticised the 30 years old boat but said lifeboat crew and inspectors took it out after the accident and were happy with tests.
They are suggesting a ferry seven miles out created the wave but top marine scientists at Belfast University dispute that theory.
Mr Ridley said: "At first they said a freak gust of wind had caused it then they changed the story. They are trying to rubbish what we are saying - but it was the ferry that did us."
"We were spotted by a yacht which had left Glasgow for Belfast and called in at Stranraer.
Mr Haughton said: "The yacht skipper sounded the alert but radio interference meant he had got through to the coastguard at Belfast rather than Scotland. The operator input the co-ordinates for our position but an error meant the helicopter searched the wrong area 15 miles away and an hour and 17 minutes were wasted.
"We were in the water three hours before the yacht spotted us at around 8.30pm. Michael and Shaun were pulled from the water about 9.40pm. The helicopter crew said if they had been sent to the right area they could have got there within 10 minutes.
"The yacht spotted us from 500 yards away yet they said the ferries couldn't see us. Several passed and nobody saw us at all."
And but for that lost time Mr Ridley believes his son and grandsons would still be alive: "The report said that the one hour 17 minutes lost would not have made a difference. But I reckon a bloody hour would have made a vast difference. They were still alive when they were rescued."
A police report will now go to the Procurator Fiscal and who will decide if there is to be an inquest.
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