Independent, The (London): Letter: Dangers at sea

Sir: Recent collisions in the English Channel and southern North Sea highlight a problem that has gone unchecked for years. The standard of pilotage of some masters of vessels together with reduced bridge manning levels is now appalling.

Off the Kent coast when I was a trawler skipper, trying to get a living was akin to playing Russian roulette with ships that seemed to be hell bent on running us off the ocean. We would have the correct navigational and fishing lights on, and be lit up with deck lights. We even used to fire flares at them; still it did not matter, they could never understand we were towing a net and were unable (as our fishing lights told) to get out of their way. No matter that there were miles of sea either side of our vessel, they would relentlessly home in, never answering radio communications.

During my time as skipper, a tug towing pipes with flotation collars on, at speed, cut across my stern and missed our warps by yards in the Thames estuary. A German ship steamed up to within 200 yards and dropped his anchor in my trawl. That took three hours to clear in the dark. The ship stated that Dover Straits coastguard had told him to drop anchor! A container vessel passed me by 50 yards doing 15 knots with no one on the bridge.

One of the worst situations I ever witnessed was the plight of a French trawler from Boulogne going about his business, properly lit, only to be forced back on his gear 180 degrees by a huge tanker that should have given way. When I have dared to report these matters to the coastguard, they asked me, "Is all your safety gear in order? Are your crew lists up to date?"

Where are the prosecutions?

MARTIN JACKSON

Ramsgate, Kent