Cemfjord’s shame

I often think of the second part of your editorial comment as a newspaper version of BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day – it’s 
where the editor reaches out to the reader and says: “Do not forget this.”

Yesterday’s (6 January) dealt with the power of the sea, and the shipwrecks in the Pentland Firth and the Solent.

What we must not forget is that it is not only a wrecked ship and the bodies of its crew that lie on the floor of the Pentland Firth, but the wreck of the hopes and happiness of eight families.

The authorities will try to learn what happened to the Cemfjord, but I fear any investigation 
could well be baulked and delayed by lawyers and accountants for those with money at stake, until such time they can minimise their clients’ exposure to retributive 
justice.

It’s the way things work these days: more money will be spent in protecting the ship’s owners and shareholders from having to put their hands in their pockets than was ever spent on the health, safety and comfort of the crew when they were alive – and in three years’ time, when it happens again, we will be asking each other: “What was the name of that ship that went down in the Pentland Firth?”

David Fiddimore

Calton Road

Edinburgh