The Dutch helmsman received a prison sentence: last June, he was steering a dredging vessel that collided with the sailing boat Moody 31. Gerard Chapel was found guilty under section 58 of the Merchant Shipping Act and will spend six months behind bars. Initially it was nine months in jail, but later the sentence was commuted. In addition, the seafarer will pay a fine of £6,000 and costs of £4,800.
The sentence came eight months after the five-ton «dredger» Shoreway collided with a sailboat on the River Orwell in Suffolk. One person, a 57-year-old woman, Bernadine Ingram, was killed in the incident.
According to investigators, it was the dredging vessel's helmsman who failed to notice the approaching boat and caused the accident.
