Sage Sagittarius former captain faces coronial inquest into the death of men died in Australian waters while he was master. The New South Wales Coroner Court launched an investigation into suspicious two of three deaths from 2012 on board what has now become known as the “death ship” in May 2015.
ABS News reports the captain said it is “probable” part of an audio recording on his ship was deleted the day a crew member went overboard and died.
The inquest, which started in 2015, has previously heard Captain Salas was selling guns on board the ship, on which three people died suspiciously.
It is looking into two of the three deaths, and has previously heard Captain Salas allegedly bullied and assaulted crew members.
Mr Llanto, who was 42 and the ship’s chief cook, disappeared overboard off the coast of Cairns in August, 2012.
Two weeks later, the chief engineer Mr Collado, who was 55, was killed when the ship was moored at the Port of Newcastle.
Mr Collado plummeted 12 metres down an engineering shaft after what is believed to be a blow to the back of the head.
At the recent inquest hearing Captain Salas was questioned about whether he switched off the audio on the voyage data recorder (VDR) on the day Mr Llanto went overboard.
Salas admitted that it was probable part of the VDR audio recording was deleted the day Llanto disappeared and he told the inquest he didn’t remember if he had switched it off.
