Written question asked by Sandra Gidley (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 19 October 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 23 October 2006. It was answered by Stephen Ladyman (Labour) on Wednesday, 25 October 2006 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

FV Gaul

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether any evidence of a design fault in the construction and arrangement of the duff and offal chutes on the trawler F. V. Gaul was made available to the Wreck Commissioner during the 2004 investigation.

Answer: The Marine Accident Investigation Branch provided the inquiry with a copy of a full set of technical drawings for the vessel, a number of which detailed the design of these chutes. These drawings were reviewed by the technical experts and the expert representing the Department for Transport referred to these drawings in the production of the document ““Notes on the duff and offal chutes””, submitted to the Re-opened Formal Investigation. These notes included comments on the design of the chutes and the potential design inadequacies.

Secondary information