Witness: Carman's boat unseaworthy after modifications

A marine surveyor says modifications that Nathan Carman made to his boat before a fishing trip with his mother would have made the vessel unseaworthy.

Bernard Feeney testified on Wednesday in a civil trial over whether insurers should be required to pay an $85,000 claim for Carman's boat that sank after leaving Rhode Island in September 2016.

Carman was picked up in a life raft eight days later but his mother, Linda Carman, is presumed dead.

Feeney testified he inspected the boat before it was sold to Carman and that it was in good condition. But he said alterations Nathan Carman has said he made would have put the vessel in danger.

Carman has denied claims by his aunts that he deliberately caused the sinking.

A federal judge in Providence is hearing the case.

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