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casualties and any contributing factors, identify safety deficiencies, and recommend corrective courses of action. All marine casualty rep^orts should be examined and causal determinations made. Where conclusions can easily be reached, no further investigations should be carried out and appropriate compilation of the data should be effected in order to help determine safety deficiencies or trends and to facilitate other analyses. When such reports are incomplete or not sufficiently informative to make causal determinations, further verification should informally and summarily be carried out. When causal determinations can­ not be reached through examination and verification of marine casualty reports, the investigating authority should carry out further investigations until such deter­ mination can be made, except where it is apparent that

this determination cannot be achieved. When it appears that something unusual or something complex has occurred, or where it is apparent that important safety lessons can be learned, the investigating authority should investigate to the fullest extent possible until the facts are clearly established to its satisfaction. The investigating autho­ rity shall have full discretion as to the degree of any investigation to be carried out, provided that the exer­ cise of that discretion is supported by reason in all cases.

Preliminary Inquiries

7.1 Generally. Any duly appointed Investigating Of­ ficer of the MTSB may conduct a preliminary investigation as an initial step in determining the contributory factors and causes of marine casualties/ accidents, and whether a hearing should be held. Whenever the preliminary investi­ gating officer feels that there is reasonable doubt as to the facts and believes that the casualty/accident is of an unusual character, he shall recommend for a formal

investigation

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7.2 Powers and Duties of Preliminary Investigating Officers. The investigating officer in a preliminary investigation may examine any relevant papers, documents or records, interview witnesses, and go on board and examine vessels and equipment. He may obtain and collect evidence including but not limited to affidavits/ oral or written, signed or unsigned statements, books, papers, documents or records; and may make copies, take photo-

graphs, and remove and mark any original documents or objects for future identification. It is the duty of every Preliminary Investigating Officer to ensure the complete development of all pertinent- facts, to establish to the best of his ability the cause of any casualty, and to make such recommendations in his report__aLS- will in his best judgement aid in preventing a recurr^e^^e __of_„the casualty, and in determining whether further action should be taken.

7.3 Conduct Of Preliminary Inquiry.

7.3.1 Venue. Whenever feasible, the proceedings under these rules should be conducted in the office of the MTSB; but these may be conducted elsewhere v;ith the consent of the Chairman.

At The Scene Of Casualty. On being directed to conduct a preliminary inquiry, the investigating officer should proceed to the scene as soon as possible, using whatever transportation is most readily available. In some cases, due to the urgency of the situation, the investigating offi­

cer may proceed to .the scene without waiting for orders, and arrange for the appointment to be sent to him in the area where the inquiry is to be conducted.

Place Of Inquiry - Interviewing Witnesses. The venue must largely depend on the cirumstances, in

eluding the availability of suitable facilities for conducting the proceedings. This may prove difficult where the inquiry takes place on board ship. Nevertheless privacy is an essential re­ quirement, and one which may well tax the investi­ gating officer's resourcefulness, tact and firm ness. Where a vessel is lost, witnesses should be

interviewed in a suitable place close to where they were brought ashore. On such occasions, it may be necessary to enlist the assistance of local authorities. In other words, interviews must be carried out in a convenient place, one in which privacy is assured and where it is possible to segregate the waiting witnesses and interviev? them one at a time. Subpoenas to appear at the head­ quarters should also be served on any witnesses that appear reluctant or unwilling to attend the inquiry.

7.3.2 Who May Be Present At The Preliminary Inquiry. No person may attend an inquiry other than the follov/ing:

(a) the investigating officer;

<b) a person or persons requested by the investigating officer to advise or assist him;

Cc) a person while giving evidence at the inquiry; and

(d) counsel for a person referred to in paragraph (c), while that person act­ ually gives evidence, but who shall not be allowed to actively participate in the proceedings.

7.3.3 Interview Of Witnesses. As a general rule, the interview of witnesses should be conducted informally; however, the right for investigating officers to require the oath at their discretion should be reserved.

Wherever possible, the philosophy of "in­ terview" should be employed rather than that of "interrogation". An interviev^ denotes a meeting in which the investigating officer approaches the witness on a co-operative but neutral basis.

The interview should not be restricted to the crews of the ships involved but should also include any other persons who may have pertinent inf ormation.

(a> Importance of early witnesses. The early witnesses, while the fresh in their minds, investigating officer

examination of examination of events are still is crucial. The must try to be

the first to question the witnesses