The widow of a man who died when he went overboard from a Stena Line ferry has taken a claim for damages to the High Court in London.
Ms Marion Davis, of Melrose Avenue, Yate, Bristol, claims the ferry company was to blame for her husband's death after it launched an abortive rescue attempt on the Irish Sea crossing from Rosslare to Fishguard in October 2000.
Lawyers for Stena Line deny any liability.
Mr Simon Kverndal QC, for Ms Davis, told Mr Justice Forbes that Mr Davis had gone overboard at about 11.40 a.m. on October 29th, 2000.
He was seen a short while later by a number of passengers who raised the alarm.
As soon as the message was conveyed, the ferry began to turn around to look for Mr Davis and an emergency message was broadcast over the VHF radio.
The message resulted in a rescue helicopter being scrambled, an RNLI lifeboat being sent out and a nearby container vessel, the Celtic King, joining in the search.
Mr Davis was spotted about 40 minutes later by a Celtic King crew member.
However, the bridge crew on the ferry decided it was too dangerous to launch the ship's rescue boats, and the ferry was manoeuvred close to Mr Davis in an attempt to extract him from the water.
From 12.30 p.m. to 12.38 p.m., Mr Davis was seen treading water to the starboard side of the boat, but was then submerged as the ferry ventured too close, Mr Kverndal said.
He reappeared on the other side of the boat, "face down in the water, obviously dead".
Mr Kverndal said: "As common sense would suggest ... in case the attempt to get Mr Davis on board failed, as a fall-back, crew members should have been ready to try to pass flotation devices to him to assist him if it was necessary to leave him in the water.
"The circumstances of Mr Davis's death were foreseeable and, with proper planning, his death was avoidable."
However, Mr Michael Tillett QC, for Stena Line, argued the ferry company was in no way to blame for Mr Davis's death, and that he probably went overboard "as a result of a deliberate or reckless act".
The hearing, which is due to last nine days, continues.