The evidence indicates that the decision to replace the pads in two of the winches stemmed from damage discovered in them after the incident by the crew, who identified an immediate need to replace them for the continued operation of the ship (which, as recalled, continued to Ashkelon for the continuation of the fuel loading process). See in this regard what is stated in paragraph 9 of the affidavit of the ship's captain and Appendix 4 to his affidavit.
Moreover. Corporal Gidron addressed the ship's crew a letter of protest (LOP) regarding the incident on October 18,2015, a week after it occurred (Appendix 2 to Gidron's affidavit). At this stage, the pads had already been replaced, due to the need to continue operating the ship. When an expert on behalf of the plaintiffs (Mr. Talmor) boarded the ship on October 21,2015, the ship's officer informed him that the pads that had been replaced had not been preserved, since their replacement had taken place 10 days earlier. In the totality of the evidence, I did not find any real basis for the claim that the failure to maintain the pads stemmed from the defendant's attempt to hide them from the plaintiff.
As to the argument that the defendant did not allow an examination of the ship and the winches, as well as relevant documents in the matter, I did not find any substance in it either, when from a report prepared by Mr. Talmor (on behalf of the plaintiff) on October 25,2015 (p. 143 of the plaintiff's evidence), it appears that the expert had the opportunity to obtain various data with respect to the winches (see details in paragraph 3 of his opinion, p. 145 of the plaintiffs' evidence). and she was given an opportunity to photograph winch No. 8, including close-up photographs (see the photographic appendix of his opinion, as well as what is stated in paragraph 16 of the expert opinion of Mr. Podoly, p. 119 of the plaintiff's evidence).
Indeed, in the plaintiffs' expert reports, it was noted that the ship's captain was hesitant in providing details and documents regarding equipment and periodic inspections, but in the framework of this proceeding, documents were submitted attesting to such periodic inspections, as detailed above.