Aquila Enquiry

A five-day inquiry into the loss of three lives when the Aquila, a clam dredger, sank off the Ardnamurchan north shore in July 2009, opened in Fort William Sheriff Court yesterday.

Several members of Kilchoan Coastguard team have received citations requiring them to attend to give evidence. The team was the first of the emergency services to arrive on scene, though it could do little from the shore other than give an approximate grid reference for the wreck, the hull and rudder of which protruded above the water near the Bo Fascadale reef.

Since the accident, the Marine Accident and Investigation Branch of the Department for Transport has produced a full report. A first report from the Inquiry is here, and an account of what happened, with a link to the MAIB report, is here.