The West Australian coroner will hand down on Wednesday his findings on the deaths of 17 of 102 men and boys who perished when their termite-ridden boat sank.
Coroner Alastair Hope finished his inquest last week into the sinking last June of the Siev 358.
He was inquiring into the deaths of the 17 whose bodies were recovered.
The rickety craft with 212 passengers and crew aboard did not even make it halfway to Christmas Island from Java.
There were repeated calls to Australia's Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCCA) claiming the ship was damaged, overcrowded, unsafe and taking on water.
But Indonesian and Australian authorities took two days to decide who was in charge of the rescue.
By then it was too late for 102 men and boys from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, who were fleeing the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
This week marks Mr Hope's last in the job of WA state coroner, a post he has held for 16 years.
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