Roy Temme, 47, from Southampton was fixing a ventilation damper in temperatures of up to 55C while moored in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua, last year when the fatal accident happened
A ‘much-loved’ British engineer was electrocuted to death while repairing a fault on a luxury superyacht in the Caribbean, an inquest has heard. The body of Roy Temme, 47, from Southampton, was found dead on the the 62.5 metre-long Baton Rouge in February 2024 when it was moored in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua.
He chose to repair the ventilation damper in an enclosed compartment of the vessel. The heat was so intense – ranging between 50C and 55C – that he could only work for 10 minutes at a time before needing breaks. A report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) found that Mr Temme had not isolated the electricity for the repair and the electric breaker was found to be still on. Coroner Jason Pegg said that no permit had been sought to carry the repair.
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He added that the dad-of-two, who previously served in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, was “hot and sweaty” while working and that this would have aided the electricity flowing through his body. The chief officer who found Mr Temme’s body also received an electric shock himself.
Mr Pegg said: “Roy was working in temperatures of 50 to 55C. He was hot and sweaty which aided the electrical flow through his body. He was a much-loved husband and father and was extremely experienced and qualified.”
In a statement read out at the inquest, the engineer’s wife Natasha said: “He’s an amazing father, amazing husband, always cheerful, great sense of humour.
“Roy was a strong man, family man, sober habits, courteous and always willing to help.”
She added: “There was no-one to help him… Even if he was crying for help there was no-one there.”
Mr Pegg noted: “The evidence would suggest that when Roy embarked on that task which involved the electric circuits on the ship, there was no making safe of the electrical system by Roy or anyone else.”
He added that a post-mortem report found that Mr Temme, suffered cardiac arrest caused by the electric shock and that he also had burns to his body.
This resulted in hypoxia – or oxygen deficiency – which caused Mr Temme’s death. A verdict of death by misadventure was concluded.
Mr Pegg said also that he would not be producing a prevention of future deaths report because the MAIB stated that “procedures had been reviewed and existing ones have been reinforced”.
Mr Temme was part of a 17-strong crew on the vessel, which had no guests at the time of the fatal incident. The Baton Rouge was made in 2010 and costs £358,000 a week to charter and has five decks and seven cabins and has a beach club and gym on board.