A SEAMAN alleged to be involved in a fatal accident at sea has been cleared of manslaughter.

Car ferry officer Michael Hubble, of Winehouse Lane, Capel-Le-Ferne, near Folkestone, was charged with three counts of manslaughter, one each for James Meaby, Rupert Saunders and Jason Downer, and three charges of engaging in conduct as a seaman likely to cause death or serious injury to another. He denied all of them.

A jury at Winchester Crown Court today cleared him of the manslaughter charges but was still deliberating on the other counts.

Hubble, was in charge of the watch on the 37,500 ton P&O Pride of Bilbao on August 21 last year when the small yacht crewed by the three men disappeared off the Isle of Wight.

It was alleged that the ferry caused the smaller boat to sink, either by hitting it or swamping it in its wash. The prosecution claimed that the men survived the accident and were left to die after the Bilbao watchman neglected to check they were all right, despite knowing there had been a near miss.

Mr Saunders, of Swanley, and Mr Meaby of Tooting, were friends from university, while Jason Downer, of Broadstairs, was a schoolfriend.

Their bodies of the men were not found for several days and the Ouzo has not been seen again.

The Crown said that Rupert Saunders and Jason Downer lived for at least three hours after the alleged collision, and Jason Downer for more than 12 until he succumbed to the effects of hypothermia and drowned.