Finding into death of Graham Hill
Deceased
Graham Hill
Demographics
51y, male
Date of death
2018-01-18
Finding date
2018-12-04
Cause of death
Drowning
AI-generated summary
Graham Hill, 51, drowned after his recreational boat capsized in Port Phillip Bay. The vessel lacked a bilge pump and had defective scuppers that could not be closed from inside. When water accumulated in the bilge during the voyage, the boat became unstable. Upon stopping to address the water ingress, additional water flooded in through open scuppers now below the waterline. Bailing with buckets proved ineffective. The boat capsized while Mr Hill and his partner attempted to retrieve life jackets. He remained in the water for 30-40 minutes before losing grip and drowning. The coroner found the death preventable through proper vessel maintenance, bilge pumping mechanisms, and lifejacket use. Multiple systemic failures in recreational vessel regulation in Victoria were identified.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- Absence of bilge pump mechanism on vessel
- Defective scuppers that could not be closed from inside the boat
- Water accumulation in bilge area prior to or during voyage
- Inability to remove water from bilge once at sea
- Lack of vessel seaworthiness inspection regime in Victoria
- Life jacket not worn at time of capsizing
Coroner's recommendations
- Transport Safety Victoria should consider introducing requirements that all boats be fitted with a manual or electrical pumping mechanism to all bilge areas
- When scuppers are fitted to a vessel, ensure that scuppers can be closed shut from within the vessel
- Transport Safety Victoria should continue to explore potential models for a non-commercial vessel seaworthy inspection and certificate regime as a means to ensuring the seaworthiness of vessels at points of registration, transfer of ownership, and after modification of the vessel
Full text
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