Report condemns electrics on tragic boat

The electrics on board a boat, which caught fire and sank resulting in the deaths of three men, were in poor condition, unsafe, and potentially dangerous, the Marine Casualty Investigation Board has found.

In its final report on the Castaway tragedy off Castletownbere in West Cork in 2010, the board said that over a period of time, poor electrical practice on board the vessel, and “unorthodox modifications” rendered it “potentially dangerous in many respects”. It left the electrics vulnerable to overloads, short-circuiting, and involuntary earthing.

Three of the four men on board drowned after they were forced to jump overboard when flames engulfed the boat on Aug 16, 2010, about three miles off Roancarrig lighthouse in the bay at Adrigole.

The four — skipper, master mariner and boat owner, Wolfgang (Mike) Schmidt, 69, who lived at Firkeale, Glengarriff; Richard Harman, 69, The Village, Glengarriff, Wolfgang Schroder, 62, Dromleigh South, Bantry; and Eddie Dziato — set off on a fishing trip from Mr Schmidt’s pier in Glengarriff at 9am aboard his 30ft fibreglass vessel, Castaway. However, as they headed for home at about 5pm, they noticed the boat was taking on water.

Mr Schmidt turned on three electrical bilge pumps but, within 20 minutes, they noticed smoke coming from behind the instrument console in the wheelhouse.

They lifted a panel and saw flames and insulation material on wires starting to melt.

Mr Dziato tried to fight the fire with an extinguisher but the flames engulfed the wheelhouse. It blocked the way to the bow where the lifejackets were stored.

The intense heat forced the men to jump overboard. A coastguard helicopter was on the scene in minutes.

The boat sank. Sole survivor Mr Dziato was winched on board.

The bodies of Mr Harman, Mr Schmidt, and Mr Schroder were recovered a short time later.

An inquest in Mar 2011 returned verdicts of accidental deaths in all three cases.