A 61-year-old ferry officer, who worked on the P&O car ferry Pride of Bilbao and was interviewed by Hampshire police in connection with the deaths of three yachtsmen, has been released on police bail.
James Meaby, 36, Jason Downer, 35, and Rupert Saunders, 36, were found in the sea off the Isle of Wight after their yacht Ouzo left Bembridge on August 20th to sail to the Dartmouth Regatta.
The 25ft Sailfish disappeared without making a distress call. The Pride of Bilbao was in the same area as the yacht at the time.
Detective Inspector Nigel Niven, who is leading the investigation, said a file was being prepared for the Crown Prosecution Service. Police were continuing to investigate the fate of the Ouzo, and also continuing to search for the missing yacht or its wreckage.
The ferry officer, who is from Folkestone, Kent, was initially arrested on September 2 on suspicion of causing manslaughter through gross negligence. He was interviewed again on November 8 and released on bail, pending further police inquiries.
Detectives believe the 37,500-ton car ferry, which was en route to Bilbao in Spain, could be involved in the disappearance of the yacht. The arrested officer was an agency worker employed by P&O on board at the time, but he was not the ship's captain.
Forensic officers examined the Pride of Bilbao and it is alleged ``something of interest'' showed up its ``black box'' voyage data recorder.
An inquest into the deaths of the three men, which was opened and adjourned on the Isle of Wight, heard that Mr Meaby, from Tooting, south London, and Mr Downer, from Kent, were found with their lifejackets manually inflated.
Mr Saunders, 36, also from Tooting, who owned and skippered the yacht, was wearing an automatically inflated lifejacket.
The cause of death for Mr Meaby was a combination of drowning and hypothermia. The other two died of drowning.
