if the factory crew were not fully conversant with the safe operation of Gaul. The report claimed that the skipper and Mate, although experienced mariners, had never sailed in a ship of Gaul'''s class, specifically ships with separate factory crew. The chutes at the centre of the RFI's conclusions were the duff and offal chutes, used to dispose of unwanted marine organisms and fish processing waste respectively. The Wreck Commissioner, Mr Justice Steel, said of the poor condition of these chutes: "This reflects poorly on the maintenance and repair work performed by the owners and their staff." The inquiry secured for the first time official confirmation that the UK government used trawlers for espionage during the Cold War, but found no evidence that Gaul was - or had ever been - so used. In 2010 an independent and critical investigation was carried out into the Gaul'''s reserves of operational stability, the results of which revealed that she did not meet the IMCO (now IMO) minimum stability standards in all of her anticipated seagoing conditions. Bibliography External links Site claiming conspiracy of silence over an alleged design fault Fishing vessels of the United Kingdom Shipwrecks in the Barents Sea Cold War history of the United Kingdom Conspiracy theories Maritime incidents in 1974 1974 in the United Kingdom