It should be noted that in the incident report of the ship's crew (also prepared on October 12,2015) there is no similar report regarding the release of cable No. 1, but there is no dispute, even according to this report, that at 17:00 the flow of fuel was stopped due to the winds reaching a speed of 25 knots, as agreed in advance in the check list (paragraph 48 of the checklist).
- According to the Gidron Report, the wind speed in the following hours ranged from 25 to 30 knots, which also emerges from the incident report of the ship's crew.
According to Gidron's report, "At 6:00 P.M., we pulled cable 1 about 1-2 meters and strengthened the brake."
- At around 7:00 P.M., the wind speed reached 30 knots, according to the team's incident report, as well as the Gidron report.
At around 7:30 P.M., it was decided to dismantle and disconnect the pipeline that was pumping fuel to the ship, in accordance with Section 48 of the Check List, and at around this hour the pipeline was lowered into the water.
Not long afterwards (until around 20:00), when the wind reached a speed of 30 knots, cable No. 1 was released to a distance of about 10 meters, which is clearly evident from the incident reports of Gidron and the team.
- According to the incident report prepared by the ship's crew, when cable No. 1 was released to a distance of 10 meters, the ship's crew member managed to bring it back to a distance of only 2 meters, while at the same time Corporal Gidron commands not to touch ropes or other cables, until the weather calms, which was expected to occur within one to two hours.
This last fact is based on the team's real-time incident report, and it was not contradicted in the evidence, including in the Gidron report and in his testimony before me (see p. 19 of the transcript of the meeting of 8 June 2025, line 30 onwards).
- At around 8:10 P.M., the rope tied to buoy No. 1 was torn, and later the cable itself continued to loosen and finally disconnected.
At 20:30, the cables tied to buoys 2 and 3 were released, and the ropes tied to these buoys were torn.