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Mr. Norman A. Godman (Greenock and Inverclyde): My brother Keith was a member of the crew of the Gaul but, fortunately for him and his family, he signed off just before she sailed on that fateful trip. Is it not the case that fishermen who fish those waters have known about her location for many years, and that many of them do not believe for a moment that she was broadside on when she foundered?
Ms Jackson: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his intervention. The issue of where she is lying is something I intend to touch on later. In terms of the knowledge possessed by fishermen in the area, it is my understanding that, as my hon. Friend the Member for Hull, West and Hessle pointed out, the snagging of nets upon the Gaul by the Norwegian vessel Riaro in 1975 was the basis for the investigation which the makers of "Dispatches" eventually produced.
Evidence was heard at the formal investigation from 48 witnesses, and affidavits were received from 12 others, including next of kin, expert witnesses and members of the public who had made representations to the Department of Trade, which was then responsible for marine safety. However, the investigation found no direct evidence of how the tragedy had occurred.
A major constraint on the investigation was the absence of any evidence from the wreckage. The only wreckage recovered was, as my hon. Friend the Member for Hull, West and Hessle said, a small buoy. The exact location of the wreck was not established.
Following the loss of the Gaul, the Department of Trade considered a number of proposals for searching for the wreck. Proposals from the Royal Navy and commercial sources were discussed, but were not pursued, as it was decided that the considerable cost of each proposal could not be justified. Departmental records show that the lack of a positively identified search area was an important factor in these decisions.
It is important to remember that mid-1970s technology was less able than the technology available today to positively identify underwater objects from the surface. It was also less capable than current technology of surveying and salvaging wreckage at depths estimated to be 900 ft. Existing departmental records contain one report from HMS Mohawk, as my hon. Friend the Member for Hull, West and Hessle pointed out, about her involvement with the search and rescue operation conducted following the disappearance of the Gaul. Several reports on possible locations of the wreck were received from fishing vessel skippers, and six from other sources. The positions given varied widely.
An accident investigation may be reopened at any time if new and important evidence is forthcoming. However, as a general rule, once an inquiry has completed its business, no further work is undertaken unless important evidence becomes available. Although a variety of possible positions of the wreck of the Gaul became known in the years following her loss, there was insufficient positive evidence to justify mounting an underwater search. This leads on to the question why the wreck was found relatively easily in the search undertaken last summer. As my hon. Friend the Member for Hull, West and Hessle pointed out, the essential research was conducted by the producer of the programme "Dispatches".
The search area was based partially, but not exclusively, on the position of a new wreck site identified by the Norwegian trawler Riaro--a vessel to which I have already referred--on 15 November 1975. Once it was found, the total time of video filming using a remotely operated vessel was approximately one hour and 45 minutes, of which 20 to 30 minutes constituted significant material. MAIB inspectors have viewed it all. The search was successful, and revealed that the wreck was indeed the Gaul. That positive identification rules out the possibility that she was taken into a Soviet port, as some had argued in the past.
Only a small part of the wreck was surveyed. On the initial viewing of the material, it is not possible to confirm that she sank owing to flooding because of foundering. However, the survey showed very little damage to a funnel, the bridge front, the deck immediately above it, the deckhouse forward of the bridge, the whale back and the starboard bow.
The fact that panes of glass were still intact, and the absence of damage to the other parts seen in the underwater video rule out an explosion, high-impact damage or attack by any form of weapon. The lack of any evidence to suggest implosion and explosion owing to pressure effects as she sank suggests that the ship had
a good deal of water on board as she left the surface. Thus, the evidence seen so far does not contradict the finding of the formal investigation that she foundered.
The formal inquiry concluded that the most likely scenario that led to the ship's capsizing was that she was broadside to the sea. In fact, she is now lying as if facing the weather. It is difficult to determine whether her orientation at a depth of 900 ft bears any direct relationship to her orientation on the surface at the time she sank.
On the basis of what has been seen so far, I am not convinced of the need to reopen the formal investigation. The more immediate question is whether there is a need to conduct a more detailed survey of the wreck. That could be undertaken only in the summer months, when there is a reasonable chance of an extended period of fair weather.
We now know where the Gaul lies. We know that she played no part in intelligence-gathering activities, we know that she was not sunk by an explosive or other large impact, and we know that she must have shipped a considerable amount of water as she left the surface.
I will consider very carefully the points raised by my hon. Friend and others. Until new and important evidence comes to light that calls into serious question the findings of the formal investigation, my decision may well be that there is no need to reopen that investigation. I will, however, very carefully consider commissioning a more detailed survey of the wreck next summer, when, as I have said, it is to be hoped that the weather will be clement.
My hon. Friend began by asking whether I would agree to meet the families of those involved. I would, of course, be very happy to meet them: it would be a privilege. They are a testament to how to deal with a particular tragedy, without ever losing sight of the fact that what they wanted most to know was what had happened.
Question put and agreed to.
Adjourned accordingly at seventeen minutes to Eleven o'clock.
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