An inquiry into the mystery sinking of the Teignmouth fishing boat Etoile Des Ondes has switched to Germany and a 90,000 tonne bulk carrier from Singapore. Two detectives from South Devon will be travelling to Hamburg next week to collect vital video, photo and documentary evidence about the movements of the vessel Alam Pintar, which has since left the German port and is now heading for Baltimore in the USA.
The 230-metre Alam Pintar, managed by a company in London, is thought to have been in the English Channel on the night of December 20 when the Teignmouth crabber was hit and sunk by a larger vessel. The tragedy claimed the life of 21-year-old crewman Chris Wadsworth from Teignmouth. Skipper Chris Bibb from Shaldon, together with Matthew Collins and Daniel Bruce, were rescued when their boat collided with another about 30km off the French ferry port of Cherbourg
Dave Simmonds, co-owner of the Etoile Des Ondes, said Chris Wadsworth’s family were still coming to terms with their loss and were anxious to find his body. He said: “They wanted to wait until the end of January before they consider anything like a memorial service.” He said one of the survivors, Chris Bibb, was recovering well from his ordeal. He is getting better, it will take time and I don’t know if he will go back on a boat,” he added.
Det Sgt Alex Dawson, of Teignmouth CID, confirmed he and Plymouth-based colleague Tim Clenahan would be flying from London to Hamburg on Monday as part of the inquiry into the disaster.
He said the information he and his colleagues would collect and bring back to Devon on the same day had been made available by German police. The Alam Pintar’s movements have been traced by use of an Automatic Identification System which is accessible on the internet. DS Dawson said he hoped to recover the Pintar’s Voyage Data Recorder, the nautical equivalent of a plane’s black box.
He added: “We will also collect photos, videos and papers. The information available suggests this very big vessel was in the right place at the right time. We shall have to look very carefully at all the data we gather in Germany.” He added: “We can’t say exactly how significant the information is until we have had a good look at it. “This is a very complicated matter because the accident was in international waters and involved a British crew and a vessel registered and owned in Singapore. We don’t know the managing company in London.”
DS Dawson did not rule out the prospect of further trips abroad as part of the inquiry. Dave Simmonds added: “I have been in regular contact with Alex Dawson and the police and I am aware of the developments in Germany. “We had a pretty good idea which boat was involved from an early stage but didn’t want to say anything.
“The problem for me is that it all happened in international waters so I am not sure about what laws apply. I don’t know how much this black box will tell us either. We are really in the hands of the police and the investigation.”