THE PEMBROKESHIRE owner of a boat on which two fishermen died of carbon monoxide poisoning, has said he was not aware of marine safety guidelines about the use gas on vessels.

As The Herald previously reported, Mark Arries, 26, and Edward Ide, 21, were found dead on the Eshcol as it was moored in Whitby harbour, North Yorkshire, after a fishing trip in January 2014.

The fishermen were using the grill of a gas cooker to heat the boat as they slept overnight.

Timothy Bowman-Davies, 44, from Neyland has admitted breaching safety laws but denies knowing the men were using the cooker as a heating source.

He told a trial of issue at Leeds Crown Court that he was not aware of the risks of carbon monoxide on boats and did not know he needed to have the gas cooker serviced.

Bowman-Davies said he believed that other boat owners had a similar lack of awareness about the risk of CO and the guidelines surrounding it.

But he agreed when prosecutor James Leonard said: “I put to you your lack of awareness is a very serious failing on your part as the owner of the vessel.”

The defendant said the Maritime and Coastguard Agency had inspected the £100,000 boat 11 weeks before the “tragic accident” and was “happy” with its condition.

The fishing boss told the court that he relied on his local MCA inspector to advise him and believed any safety concerns would have been raised during the inspection.

He told the hearing: “I didn’t know it needed to be done. I had the MCA inspector on the boat; I would have thought he would have told me.

“I’m a fisherman. Unless I’m helped along a little bit I don’t know what to do. I rely on my local inspector for advice.”

The defendant, who said he was “devastated” about the deaths of the two men, told the court: “I don’t blame anybody. It’s something that happened that shouldn’t have happened, a tragic accident.”

The trial, which is sitting without a jury, has heard that the defendant’s son Jake, who was 15 at the time, made police statements in which he said he and his father were aware of the cooker being used as a heater on the Eshcol.

Found the dead fisherman: Jake Bowman-Davies was 15 at the time.

But when he gave evidence on Monday, the teenager, now 19, denied giving police this information.

His father told the court his son had never told him about anyone misusing the cooker in this way and he “did not know” why he would have made such statements.

Mr Arries and Mr Ide, both from Northumberland, were part of a crew of three working on the Eshcol fishing for scallops with two other boats owned by Bowman-Davies.

They had returned from a fishing trip in the early hours of January 15 2014 and were found dead in their bunks a few hours later, with the grill of the gas cooker on.

Bowman-Davies has pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the ship was operated safely and that work equipment was maintained efficiently.

Teenager Jake was working on one of the other boats and found the bodies of his colleagues.

“There was like a vapoury smoke, there was no air, that’s how it felt,” he told the court.

He found both men in their bunks and said the grill of the gas cooker had been on.

He denied earlier witness statements in which he told police he and and his father knew the cooker was being used as a heater in “short bursts”, insisting neither were aware of the cooker being used as a heater.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch found the boat had no carbon monoxide alarm, heaters did not work and the cooker had not been installed correctly.

It also found the management of the vessel was ineffective.

An inquest jury in 2014 returned verdicts of death by misadventure and the coroner also said he would be recommending that boats were fitted with alarms.

The case was adjourned until Wednesday (Aug 2).