Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has backed bid to overturn findings of Trident sinking
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond has backed a bid to launch a new inquiry into a boating tragedy that killed seven people almost 40 years ago.
Jeannie Ritchie lost both her husband and father in 1974 when the trawler Trident sank off Caithness. All the crew on board – Robert Cordiner, Alexander Ritchie, George Nicol, James Tait, Thomas Thain, Alexander Mair and Alexander Summers – were lost when the Trident sank.
The families of the victims fought for a new inquiry when divers discovered the wreck in 2001.
A re-opened inquiry got underway in Aberdeen in 2009, which stated that a loose trawl net could have affected her stability but no one was to blame for Trident‘s sinking. The relatives of the victims were unhappy that a clear cause of the tragedy hadn’t been identified.
Today the SNP leader agreed to assist the widow with her bid to overturn the inquiry’s findings.
However, even with the support of the First Minister, Mrs Ritchie’s bid may not be successful. Transport Secretary Philip Hammond wrote in a letter to Sir Stephen Young, who conducted the inquiry, that he felt nothing else could be done.
According to the BBC, he wrote: “It seems that there is little more that my department can now do in respect of the Trident.”
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