Six months in prison and work ban demanded against skipper for accident with boom that killed Tara from The Hague | Domestic

The accident happened on the morning of August 31 last year. The Risico was lying on a sandbank under Terschelling waiting for the water to return. A group of students from Dalton The Hague were on board. They would sail on to Vlieland.

“We had everything going for us. The weather was actually very nice. With sun and enough wind to sail,” the 49-year-old skipper from Harlingen told the court in Leeuwarden. “There is a moment when the boom goes to the other side. I turn around and make sure the mast is supported. A sailor starts turning the winch. I turn back around. When I looked, the boom suddenly had a completely different position. He had fallen down.”

The skipper cannot remember hearing the nine-year-old boom break. It was only when he heard screams that he discovered that 12-year-old student Tara was under the boom. “People immediately came to me. They said it was wrong.”

The boom, broken into two pieces, hit Tara on the back of the head. Two teachers tried to lift the boom to no avail. The student already had no pulse at that moment. Resuscitation was to no avail. Tara died of a skull fracture. Her niece, who was also on the boat, held her hand as she died.

“I supported you in your last moments,” said the statement, which her father read in court. “You were my girlfriend, my cousin, my dancing buddy and my classmate. Now we are more than a year later. I miss you.”

The Public Prosecution Service accuses the skipper of manslaughter. The boom of his ship was in poor condition. The papers for the mast and rigging work had also expired. “There were long ‘wind cracks’ in the wood of the boom that could also hold water. This caused the boom to rot,” the Public Prosecution Service said.

The skipper is responsible for safety on a ship, the justice department says. “The criminal investigation shows that the boom of the ship was not properly maintained and was not replaced in time.” Moreover, the skipper started sailing even though several of the ship’s inspection reports had expired. The Public Prosecution Service believes that Risk should therefore have remained in the port.

The skipper believes he is not to blame. In court he stated that he always checked the Risk before departure. “Before you can sail, things usually have to be cleaned up and prepared. Otherwise sailing simply wouldn’t work. You have to see it all.”

Nevertheless, the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) noted after the accident that there was a wind crack in the length of the boom. Such cracks occur when the inside of the wood is moist and expands, while the outside is dry and shrinks. Research institute TNO concluded that the cracks in the boom had been there for years and the wood was rotten in several places.

The question remains who overlooked that. The ship was inspected and adjusted in January 2020. The skipper states that he checks the wind cracks in the boom every two months with a screwdriver. He hadn’t noticed anything strange. He tested the boom for the last time in the spring of 2022.

He denies that there was any discoloration in the wood, which could indicate rot. The public prosecutor points to the TNO report: the amount of rot in the boom was brown and white and the size of a tennis ball, due to years of rainwater running into the crack. The rotting process had been going on for a year and a half. The boom was ultimately too weak to support sails.

A veterinarian who had sailed with colleagues on the Risico a few days before the accident told the skipper that the boom was bending. According to the skipper, he ‘never noticed that’ and that is also part of a boom. He also overlooked the fact that his papers had already expired for a month and a half. The ship should have been inspected on July 17, 2022 and should not have sailed since then.

The inspection subsequently found several defects in the ship, including a ‘heavy frayed rope’ on the mast. The skipper does not know whether the defects were discovered during the inspection. “Some things they don’t see, some things they do see. Not everything comes to light. It’s not completely foolproof.”

The safety of historic sailing ships (brown fleet) has been under discussion for years. The Dutch Safety Board (OVV) stated a few months ago that supervision is still insufficient. Dalton The Hague responded shocked on the report.

The skipper continued with his work after the accident. The ship and renting out holiday homes are the only sources of income, he explains. “It has been one of the most difficult decisions. But I can’t just stop my work. That’s why I had to continue. That was not pleasant at all. That has been difficult. It’s something I’ve had to carry with me every day.”

That is not acceptable for Tara’s parents. In an emotional victim statement, they demanded that he be banned from working for the rest of his life. They hold the skipper liable for the death of their daughter. “Tara trusted you as a skipper. You were responsible for a group of young people who went to sailing camp for a week. You failed to take that responsibility,” Tara’s mother said.

“What happened is irreversible. We notice the consequences of this every day. Tara had wanted to stay with us. She had wanted her father to give her away at the wedding. That is not possible now, because you made wrong choices. You gave us a life sentence. You should also get a life sentence.”

The judiciary has established that there was ‘gross negligence’ and ‘negligent conduct’ on the part of the skipper. According to the prosecutor, it is clear that maintenance was poor, the boom was not properly checked, and the skipper neglected to have the inspections in order. “The inspection is mandatory and is necessary to prevent an accident. Inspection and maintenance could have prevented this accident.”

Justice therefore demands a 6-month prison sentence and a 2.5-year ban on working on a sailing passenger ship. “No one, absolutely no one wanted this accident,” the prosecutor said. “Tara’s death was so unnecessary. That’s sad and maddening.”