Tag Archives: Hugh Watts

Transportation Safety Board says ‘countless’ reports show fishermen need to wear PFDs, use EPIRB emergency beacons

June 30, 2020   Canada, International News, National

Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) investigator Chris Morrow said it has concluded many times that fishermen need to wear personal flotation devices (PFDs) and they have to have emergency beacons on board. He said the investigation into the capsizing of the Ocean Star II lobster  boat found those to be consistent issues. An emergency beacon, known as an electronic position indicating radio beacon or EPIRB, might not have helped the crew aboard the Ocean Star II, but Morrow said they were in the water a long time without PFDs.,, On May 5, 2018, > Richard Moreau and Liz O’Connell <drowned after their small crabbing boat capsized near Port Medway, N.S.  >click to read< 14:40

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Fatal Port Hood fishing accident probe slowed due to backlog

July 8, 2019   Canada

The Transportation Safety Board says it’s dealing with a large number of marine incidents in Atlantic Canada and that’s slowing down the investigation process. For example, an investigation is still ongoing into a fishing accident that caused two deaths near Port Hood, N.S., more than a year ago. Hugh Watts and Glen MacDonald died after the Ocean Star II capsized about 100 metres offshore in May 2018. The TSB launched what’s known as a Class 4 investigation, which the agency said is a kind of probe that is limited in scope and usually completed within 200 days. It’s been more than 400 days since the investigation started. >click to read< 08:46

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Taking a risk off the shores of Cape Breton, Recent mishaps remind fishermen of the dangers

October 11, 2018   Canada

Jack Billard gazes off into the middle distance as he silently prods his memory for details of his closest brush with death. The 79-year-old retired fisherman, who spent more than six decades hauling lobsters, crabs, fish and other creatures from the sea, returns to the moment and voices what he can recall of an incident that occurred when he was a teenager just starting his career on the boats. >click to read<13:21

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