A coroner’s jury of four women and three men delivered a verdict of death by misadventure after hearing the statements from witnesses to the death of Cuban national Ramon Alvarez in an accident near George Town Harbour on 16^th October 2010.

Alvarez was the chief mate of the Point of Sand tugboat that pulls a barge carrying supplies between Grand Cayman and the Sister Islands. It was returning from a trip to Cayman Brac when the accident happened.

As the crew tried to tie up to a mooring buoy, they noticed the line was tangled, preventing them from securing the boat. Alvarez voluntarily dived into the ocean to try and untangle the rope. He had hooked a rope to the line to allow the tugboat to pull it free.

Witnesses testified how Alvarez had “visibly tired” as he was swimming back to the boat and had let go of the safety line he had been thrown. Then they saw him slip under water.

Crewmate Alexis Perigo and the tugboat captain, Juan Marin, both jumped in to save their colleague.

Perigo said: “I dived under and saw that he was coming up, so I assisted him in coming out of the water. This is when I exploded in panic. He was pouring blood with a lot of cuts on his neck and arm. His right leg was basically severed.”

Marin said he had swum over to assist, but it was too late. “I saw a big cut on his neck. I knew right away that he was dead,” he said.

Miguel Pedroso Campbell, another crewmember said, the engine was in neutral and the propellers switched off. “It takes some time for them to stop rotating,” he said.

Pathologist Dr. Shravana Jyoti gave the cause of death as “multiple propeller injuries”, including a sharp cut to the neck. He said Alvarez’s wounds were “sharp and blunt force cut injuries, consistent with motor boat propeller injuries. The manner of death in this unfortunate chief mate of the boat is listed as an accident.”

Queen’s Coroner Eileen Nervik conducted the coroner’s court.