Two families were on their way home from a boating holiday in Bohuslän when the accident occurred on the evening of July 28.
According to the father aboard the rear boat, he did not hear the cargo ship Misje Verde until it was right behind them.
Then I only see the bulb (the part at the front of the hull). It is only a few metres behind us. Then I turn as hard as I can to starboard, but I also feel that we are being sucked under the bulb.
He describes how it feels like the pleasure boat is "rolling around" and then it turns pitch black.
I remember it as me being squeezed under something where I was sitting, I had a hard time getting free. I also didn't have time to take a deep breath, but you kind of have the oxygen that you happened to have.
A short while later, he manages to get out of his boat and can start swimming, without having any idea which way he is going.
“The life jacket is empty”
But then it gets lighter and he reaches the surface. Once there, he sees both of the children's life jackets a short distance away.
Then I start swimming towards them and calling out. I get no answer. When I get there I see that my son is wearing one life jacket and that the other life jacket is empty.
A few days later, it became clear that the daughter and mother of the family had died in the accident, while the father and son were in a life-threatening condition, but survived.
"It has been very tough for obvious reasons," says plaintiff Elisabeth Rohtlieb after the first day of trial.
What is very noticeable and clear is that this trial cannot in any way change what has happened.
Hoping for an answer
However, the family's hope is that the trial can provide answers to how the accident could have occurred.
It is the family's hope that what is now coming to light can help prevent something like this from happening again. The family is thinking about this a lot, says Elisabet Rohtlieb.
Prosecutor James von Reis believes that the cargo ship steadily approached the pleasure boat and rammed it, without realising it.
The pleasure boat was effectively run over, says von Reis at the trial.
The prosecutor wants the men to be convicted of negligence in maritime traffic, causing death and causing bodily harm.
Both deny the crime.
The captain and pilot both deny any wrongdoing. They have different opinions about who was responsible for keeping a lookout.
According to the captain's defence attorney Taavi Tuula, his client believes that the pilot had "as usual" taken over the navigation, manoeuvring and conduct of the ship at the time.
It is his opinion that by taking control of the ship, he (the pilot) also took over the task of keeping a lookout. According to him, there was no need for an extra lookout, says Tuula.
However, that view is not shared by the pilot, says his defence attorney Thomas Håkansson.
What I want to emphasize right now is that he has not taken on the role of looking out for Misje Verde, says Håkansson.
The trial will conclude on Friday with, among other things, questioning of the pilot and the master.
Two people died in the serious boat accident on July 28, on the Hakefjord between Tjörn and the mainland.
The Norwegian-registered cargo ship Misje Verde was en route from Uddevalla to Kragerø in Norway and, according to an initial report from the Swedish Accident Investigation Board, was travelling at a speed of approximately 12 knots.
On approximately the same course further along the fairway, two recreational boats were travelling at a slower speed.
At the height of the island of Katten, Misje Verde caught up with one of the pleasure boats, which immediately sank when it was hit. A few minutes later, the cargo ship also passed the other pleasure boat at close range.
The family on board the sunken pleasure boat - a couple and their two younger children - ended up in the water. The father and son were rescued, but the mother and daughter were found dead on July 29 and 30, respectively.
On July 30, the Russian commander was arrested on board the Misje Verde and a few days later he was remanded in custody. On August 4, it emerged that the Swedish pilot who had been on board was also suspected of the crime.
On August 28, prosecutor James von Reis indicted both men on suspicion of causing death, causing bodily harm, and negligence in maritime traffic. Both deny the crime and blame each other during interrogations.
