Q: ... This whole thing is like a car accident in slow motion, 3.5 hours. Right?
A: Yes, what's the question?
Q: I ask if you agree with this description?
A: Of course. What, what is the description what is (sic) the description, first of all it was not, on the 4th there was nothing, only on the 5th the cable was released, we managed to lift it back and close. At 6 o'clock we raised an anchor (this does not correspond to the Gidron report - A.S.) on this cable, I mean, you try all the time, what will the owners of the terminal and Paz say about me taking out a ship, for nothing? For what? For not standing in the area?".
It follows from this that among the considerations of the person in charge of loading on behalf of IEC was, whether consciously or unconsciously, the concern that a decision regarding the disconnection of the ship would lead to claims on the part of IEC and/or Paz, and it is not impossible that this had an impact on the delay in his decision to disconnect the ship from confinement.
- The interrogation of Corporal Gidron also revealed that the decision not to release the ship from the connector at an earlier stage was influenced by another factor that was the responsibility of IEC, in the form of IEC's procedure (which was first revealed in the witness's interrogation), according to which "a ship is released only in daylight" (Gidron's testimony on page 16 of the transcript of the meeting, line 31), unless it is an "emergency". A sweeping order of this kind does not meet reasonable standards, as evidenced by the fact that it was not backed by a police officer in the debriefing conducted following the incident and in the procedures that followed it in 2017, and moreover the fact that the sequence of events that took place over the hours as described above in this case met an 'emergency' situation, and necessitated an earlier decision regarding the release of the ship.
- And if we are dealing with Raspan's investigation, it points to additional deficiencies in the decision-making process of the party responsible for the loading.
It should be clarified that this investigation was conducted about four months after the incident, by an authorized official on behalf of a government authority, and the investigative report reflects the thorough and detailed work of its editor (Mr. Shlomo Mann).