Ferry master criticised on speed in fatality inquest

Morgan Innes, 14, Simone Moore, 45, Alan Blinn, 48, and James Engert, 45, died in the incident on March 28, 2007.
They were among 12 members of the Australian and international ice-skating community and their families, including part-owner Peter Lynch, who were on board the Merinda on a late-night harbour cruise.
During an inquest into the deaths last week, Detective Senior Constable Brett Prentice gave several opinions based on eyewitness accounts and information gathered during the police investigation about what had occurred on that night.
The officer in charge of the investigation told Glebe Coroner's Court that the master of the Pam Burridge, Shannon Bryde, had been travelling at between 15 to 20 knots at the time of the crash – too fast to avoid the Merinda once he had seen her.
"At that speed ... the master ... had no time to react to take an action to avoid that collision," Senior Constable Prentice said.
The Merinda had been travelling from Darling Harbour to Woolloomooloo when she was struck on the eastern side of the Harbour Bridge.
Senior Constable Prentice said he believed both vessels did not keep a proper watch for other vessels and failed to properly assess the risk of a collision while negotiating the dark and potentially busy area around the bridge.
The Merinda also did not display proper navigational lighting as required by state boating laws.
An investigation by the Office of Transport and Safety Investigations found Mr Bryde had shown a "limited appreciation of what constituted a safe speed" but he would have been able to avoid the crash had the navigational lights of the Merinda been on.
During the inquest a Harbour Bridge security guard, who was patrolling at street level near Dawes Point that night, said he had seen a white boat, believed to be the Merinda, displaying a faint red blinking light.