SA call for mandatory life jackets

Crews on certain commercial fishing boats should be legally required to wear life jackets which inflate automatically, according to a coroner who investigated two drownings.

Adam Mark Nicolai and Justin Shane Hellyer, both 28, died when a 6.4-metre fishing boat sank off Stansbury on Yorke Peninsula in South Australia in September 2008.

The boat's owner and skipper, Andrew Pisani, survived after swimming several hours in dark, cold waters to reach shore.

Delivering his inquest findings on Thursday, Deputy State Coroner Anthony Schapel said none of the men were wearing a personal flotation device (PFD) even though there were as many as six onboard.

"I have accepted the evidence of Mr Pisani that the vessel was struck by two unusually large waves and that the vessel was catastrophically inundated as a result," he said.

He also accepted that Mr Pisani tried to provide life jackets to the two men, who at first clung to the front of the boat before being flung into the sea.

"One can appreciate that there would have been no time to put PFDs on before the vessel was ultimately inundated," the coroner said.

"As well, it would have been extremely difficult for the devices to have been donned in the water."

He also found that the boat's registration had not been renewed and, if inspected, probably would not have been regarded as seaworthy for the conditions of its use.

Mr Pisani's company has already been fined in the Industrial Court.

The coroner agreed with that court's conclusion that "there had been a foolhardy and reckless approach to the wearing of life jackets at night in offshore waters in a small vessel that was prone to sinking if swamped".

The wearing of PFDs would have significantly increased the possibility of both men surviving, he said.

He recommended that the Transport Minister consider making it a legal requirement that crew on commercial fishing boats of this type wear a PFD designed to inflate automatically on immersion.