A jury at an inquest in Donegal has called on the Government to introduce mandatory training for boat users, following the deaths of two people, who drowned near Malin Head in 2018.
The victims had set out on a fishing expedition, only for tragedy to strike, minutes after their departure from Portronan.
Sixteen-year-old Thomas Weir, from Dalkeith in Scotland, and Gerry "Malin" Doherty, a 63-year-old from Burt, Co Donegal, both drowned when the vessel they were fishing in sank off the northern coast, on 17 July 2018.
The two-day inquest at Letterkenny Courthouse heard how the sole survivor of the tragedy had tried to raise the alarm in the minutes after the boat started to take on water.
Dessie Keenan dialled 999 and was connected to an emergency call answering service centre.
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The court was told his line went dead before more precise details could be provided to the Coast Guard.
Efforts to re-establish contact with Mr Kennan failed and no search was undertaken at that point.
It emerged today that a playback system to listen back to the 27 second-long 999 call was not utilised.
It was over five hours after the sinking before emergency services were tasked, when a local fisherman found Mr Keenan in the water.
Thomas Weir was airlifted to hospital in Derry where he was pronounced dead. Mr Doherty's body was found on rocks a short distance away from where the incident occurred.
After deliberations following the conclusion of evidence today, the jury made a number of recommendations.
These included a call for more robust enforcement of water safety measures; the need for every boat to have a VHF radio for use in an emergency, enhanced information for mariners on the requirement to wear a life jacket.
They also said codes of practice for the use of pleasure boats needed to be updated and that compulsory training should be required for all those operating such vessels.
