A SEVEN-YEAR campaign for a Fatal Accident Inquiry into the sinking of the Flying Phantom tug is over after law chiefs ruled it out.

The Crown Office yesterday confirmed an inquiry would not be held into the accident which took place in December 2007.

The tragedy claimed the lives of skipper Stephen Humphreys, 33, from Greenock, Eric Blackley, 57, from Gourock, and their colleague Robert Cameron, 65, of Houston.

The FAI snub comes after criminal proceedings against tug owners Svitzer Marine and port authority Clydeport Operations came to an end.

Svitzer were fined £1.7 million in December last year while Clydeport were fined £650,000 on Monday after they admitted health and safety breaches relating to the tragedy.

The families of the men who perished on board the Greenock-based tug had long campaigned for an FAI but the Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC ruled it out following consultation with them.

The decision was made after talks were held with the families.

Gary Aitken, head of the health and safety division of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: “Criminal proceedings are now at an end and the Lord Advocate has decided that a Fatal Accident Inquiry is not required.

“We regret the passage of time since that awful night but hope that people understand that no matter how complex the circumstances, or how detailed the investigation, the Crown will continue to hold businesses to account for their failures to discharge their responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work legislation to their employees and to anyone else affected by them.

“The convictions mark, in a very public way, the wrongdoing perpetrated by the companies over an extended period of time.

“Systems have since been put in place to prevent a recurrence and the safety regime for towing operations is far more robust than what existed until 2007.” The Tele understands Crown counsel met with the families on 16 September — a week before Clydeport dramatically pled guilty in court.

The company would have been fined £750,000 had it not tendered a guilty plea.

It’s understood that the Lord Advocate is satisfied that the reasons for the tragedy have already been established during the course of the criminal proceedings and that new measures are now in place to prevent such a tragedy happening again.

All three victims of the accident were members of leading union Unite.

A spokesperson for Unite said: “It’s fundamental that the families are satisfied with the determination of the Crown Office and we hope they can find some closure after all they have had to endure.

“However yesterday’s determination is another example of the glaring inefficiencies of our civil justice system and the inherent weakness of the system to protect the safety and rights of working people.

“From the outset if we had a swifter and more transparent FAI system then we would not have had to wait nearly seven years for companies like Svitzer Marine and Clydeport to finally admit their guilt in breaching the Health & Safety at Work laws in the case of the Flying Phantom tragedy — their culpability would have been established much earlier.

“In the final analysis these companies have been fined over £2.2 million for their failures but that merely reinforces the need for the Scottish Government and our parliament to work collectively to bring about the urgent reforms so evidently required to make workplaces safer and workers better protected in Scotland.”