Indeed, Mr. Mann stated in his testimony before me that he himself did not board the ship after the incident, and therefore he cannot determine, from personal knowledge, any conclusions regarding the suitability of the ship or the integrity of the equipment in it, but this does not detract from his conclusions regarding the defects in the decision-making process of the party that managed the loading, conclusions that are well anchored in the evidence presented to me.
Among the other deficiencies in the loading process found by Mr. Mann, we can point out the following that relate to our matter:
- The weather forecast received from the company employed by IEC was not forwarded to the pilot (Gidron), and in any case it turned out that the forecast did not match the reality on the ground, while the weather forecast of the Israel Meteorological Service published on the same day (which should be known to the party responsible for the loading), matched the situation on the ground, and included a warning of strong winds from 14:00 onwards.
Mr. Mann's conclusion in this case was that "if a reliable forecast had been made as reported by the Israel Meteorological Center, it is reasonable to assume that a different decision would have been made regarding the anchorage of the ship according to (sic) the docking procedures of the connector."
- The lack of immediate availability of a tow truck, which, according to Mr. Mann, "contributed to the continued failure and deterioration of the incident." From the evidence material, including the testimony of Corporal Gidron before me, it appears that at the time of the incident there was no tow truck available on alert, which could have been used to regulate the ship's movement in view of the change in wind conditions and the release of cables and ropes. In paragraph 12 of chapter 9 of Raspan's investigation of the incident, it was noted that the pilot consulted in real time regarding the use of the tugboat, but it was decided not to make such use, and in addition, it was clarified that one of the IEC crew members who were on the ship at the time of the incident was told that the captain of the tug lived in Nazareth and therefore there was no point in calling him.
Indeed, Corporal Gidron claimed in his testimony that the presence of a tow truck would not have helped, but Mr. Mann, a representative of the Raspan, thought otherwise, when he noted in the debriefing of the incident that "the assistance of a tow truck would have eased the connection cables, which would have allowed for a more controlled and safe disconnection from the connection" (paragraph 13, chapter 9 of the investigation).