VANCOUVER – A crew member accused in the sinking of the Queen of the North ferry has claimed the ferry ran aground as he steered around a fishing boat, but whether the boat was even there has become a key question at his trial.

Third officer Janice O’Neill is the latest witness to add to the confusion, telling Karl Lilgert’s trial that when she arrived on the bridge shortly after the grounding, she didn’t see any other vessels nearby on the ship’s radar screen.

But as recently as four months ago, O’Neill had told Crown prosecutors that she did see a boat moving along the radar screen — a claim she also told police eight months after the sinking.

A frustrated O’Neill was at a loss to explain the differences between her testimony and statements to police and prosecutors, suggesting she may have been influenced by other crew members who had mentioned the fishing boat.

The fishing boat has been a recurring theme at Lilgert’s trial, with witnesses disagreeing over whether there were any other vessels in the area that could have prompted the ferry to veer off course toward Gil Island.

Lilgert was on the bridge alone with quartermaster Karen Briker, his former lover, who testified Lilgert did not raise any concerns to her about a fishing boat in the ferry’s way.