Meanwhile the family of a career stevedore and able-bodied seafarer are tonight waiting for the results of a post mortem to determine whether his death was an accident or something more sinister. At 6 am yesterday 33-year-old Andrew Betson was supposed to clock off from a 12 hour shift on a sugar barge but he never made the trip to shore. Within the hour his body was found lying face down on a barge. His co-worker Francis McFadzean was with Betson on that barge. It was he who reported Betson missing after he didn't return on the boat after his shift.
Francis McFadzean, Friend
"We were working together at the ship, working sugar. We closed up the barge, I would say about after 6, and I didn't see him from since then. When the relief boat came, I made a statement to the union officer, the representative, which was at the time Mr. Westby. I said one man was short off of this boat. He said probably the man wants to work an extra shift. We moved over to the next boat and I called their attention again. The union representative, who was still Westby, said probably the guy is working an extra shift. But I told him Betson is absent from this boat. That is all I know and all I can say."
Fuelling the family's suspicion are marks on his face and hand. His co-workers also tell us that the boat which came to pick them up should have never left without ensuring where Betson was. Betson was not wearing a life jacket. Stevedores we spoke to say that while it is a rule, it is not enforced. Andrew Betson has been a stevedore for 14 years.
