Tag Archives: (MAIB)
Scots fishing tragedy widow in tribute to ‘miracle worker’ Alex Salmond
A widow of one of the fishermen who perished in the Sapphire fishing tragedy told how Alex Salmond performed a miracle to bring the bodies of her husband and four other crew member’s home. Shirley Henderson said she remains grateful to the former MP after her husband Robert Stephen, 24, Adam Stephen, 29, Bruce Cameron, 32, and Victor Podlesny, 45, died when their vessel sank 12 miles off the Aberdeenshire coast on October 1, 1997. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:35
The Fight to Raise the Sapphire – ‘We proved everybody wrong and we got our boys home’ – >>CLICK TO READ<<
Urgent MAIB warning following MOB fatality
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has issued a safety bulletin following the fatal accident onboard the 18.35m crabber Kingfisher DH 110 (FN, 25 July, ‘Fatal MOB from Dartmouth crabber’). The bulletin urges the Home and Dry Safety Forum to immediately communicate through its members the need for owners and crew of potting vessels to review their deck working risk assessments. The Kingfisher tragedy, which occurred 30nm east-north-east of Wick on 12 July this year, saw a deckhand become attached to the backrope and be pulled overboard while manually toggling on creels. The deckhand’s PFD automatically inflated, and he initially surfaced, leading the crew to believe he was clear of the backrope and floating freely. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:06
Safety Warning Issued After Fatal Incident onboard F/V Kingfisher
A safety warning has been issued to fishing vessel owners and crew following a tragic incident aboard the potting vessel Kingfisher (DH110), resulting in the loss of one life. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has released a bulletin urging those involved in the fishing industry to reassess deck risk assessments, particularly focusing on the hazards associated with shooting or recovering creels. On 12 July 2024, the crew of Kingfisher were engaged in manually shooting a string of creels when a deckhand became entangled in a creel’s leg rope. On 12 July 2024, the crew of Kingfisher were engaged in manually shooting a string of creels when a deckhand became entangled in a creel’s leg rope. The entanglement caused the deckhand to be pulled overboard. Upon entering the water, his personal flotation device (PFD) inflated as designed. The crew swiftly used the vessel’s hauling winch to recover the submerged deckhand within seven minutes.more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:07
MAIB Releases Report into F/V Angelena Capsize off Exmouth
A The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) investigation report into the sinking of a 14-metre-long trawler eight nautical miles south-east of Exmouth, England turned up major concerns regarding the understanding of stability performance, the dangers of operating a fishing vessel alone and the proper installation of safety equipment. On June 18, 2021, the fishing vessel Angelena (BM271) capsized and sank approximately 8 nautical miles southeast of Exmouth, England. The vessel was operated by its lone skipper who managed to escape and was rescued after spending 40 minutes in the water. The MAIB conducted a thorough investigation into the incident to uncover the underlying causes and provide recommendations to prevent similar occurrences in the future. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:53
F/V Argos Georgia, unsuccessful search for missing mariners; nine bodies on Tuesday to be flown to UK for Autopsies
As part of the ongoing recovery effort for those crew members still missing from the fishing vessel Argos Georgia, over the weekend MV Pharos SG and one other vessel conducted a search of the datum area. This search unfortunately provided no further results of anyone missing or debris, points out the latest report from the Falkland Islands Government. On Saturday 27 July 2024, 13 crew members left the Islands on a military flight which was provided by the Government of Spain. The remaining crew member remains in Stanley and will return to their home country in due course. The bodies of the 9 deceased crew members remain under the care of the Coroner and will be taken to the UK to undergo the required formalities, before being released to their loved ones. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:12
Boat engineer, 20, died after toxic spray release
A dense white cloud of spray was released from the fire-extinguishing system
A 20-year-old apprentice engineer died after inhaling toxic fire extinguisher spray in the engine room of a fishing boat in Cornwall, an investigation has found. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said Conor Moseley was on board as the fire-extinguishing system was being installed on the Resurgam, a scallop dredger, in Newlyn Harbour. The FirePro system was designed to suppress fire, but it also generated a spray which was hazardous to health when inhaled in significant quantities, a MAIB report said. The system was accidentally activated in the engine room as it was being installed. FirePro said it welcomed the MAIB report. more, >>click to read<< 08:36
Nicola Faith: Fishermen were probably ‘trapped on deck’ when boat capsized, inquest hears
Three fishermen who drowned probably died because they were trapped on deck when their boat capsized, an inquest has heard. Ross Ballantine, 39, Alan Minard, 20, and skipper Carl McGrath, 34, all died after the Nicola Faith fishing boat went down off the Conwy coast in January 2021. All three men’s bodies were recovered from the coastline off the Wirral and Blackpool in March 2021. The boat itself was discovered a month later on 13 April 2021, and was eventually raised in May 2021 using a 43m long crane barrage. A report following their deaths revealed the boat was not fit to sail, and there were “various faults” with the ship, including a lack of proper safety equipment. >click to read< 11:14
Crew on ill-fated trawler Njord which sank after capsizing ‘weren’t wearing lifejackets’
Seven fishermen on board the Njord, skippered by Danny Normandale from Scarborough, were rescued uninjured. However, an eighth crewmember “succumbed to the effects of immersion in cold water” and drowned, the summary issued by the Marine Accident Investigation Board said. A rescue operation was launched after the alarm was raised on March 6 2022. The interim report said the stern trawler, which was 150 miles north-east of Peterhead, Scotland, capsized on calm seas, while processing a large haul of fish. >click to read< 08:55
F/V Joanna C: Fishermen deaths were accidental, inquest says
Two fisherman died accidentally when their trawler capsized and life raft failed to inflate, an inquest has concluded. The 45ft scalloping vessel capsized after getting snagged on whelk pots, the inquest at Hastings Coroner’s Court heard. Marine Accident Investigations Branch inspector Joanna Dorman told the jury: “We don’t know what would have happened had the life raft inflated. But we do know that it had an adverse effect on the chance of surviving.” Ms. Dorman also said the vessel had been modified since its last stability analysis in 1997, and that the stability was below the level it should have been. She described the vessel at the time of the accident as being “vulnerable” to capsizing. >click to read< 15:43
F/V Nicola Faith: The deadly mistakes that led to the boat capsizing and killing three men
A report into the death of three men who died in the Nicola Faith sinking tragedy has been published. The deaths sent shockwaves through the fishing industry after the boat capsized and sank. Carl McGrath, 34, Ross Ballantine, 39, and Alan Minard, 20, lost their lives on board the vessel after it left Conwy Harbour on January 27 last year. It later sunk 1.9 miles north of Rhos-on-Sea, near Colwyn Bay. The 58-page report, written by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) highlights a series of operational failings as Mr McGrath sought extra productivity in his bid to buy the boat outright. Here, below, we set out a timeline of events that led to the tragedy. It covers in detail the day of the boat’s disappearance and the subsequent search operation. >click to read< 12:40
Family of Robert Morley ‘bemused’ by F/V Joanna C tragedy report
Robert Morley’s stepdad and mother said the outcome of an investigation into the sinking of the F/V Joanna C had not given them the “peace of mind” they hoped for. Barry and Jackie Woolford are awaiting the inquest into Robert’s death to clear up a number of “anomalies”. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch report described how Robert was thrown from the boat as it capsized and he hung onto a lifebuoy before he eventually drowned. “We lost our son but we’re really none the wiser as to why. We know how but we don’t know why. “There are anomalies which we want to ask about at the inquest.” >click to read< 19:33
F/V Nicola Faith: Fisherman’s ‘harsh working conditions’ revealed in investigation
Carl McGrath, 34, Ross Ballantine, 39, and Alan Minard, 20, were on board the Nicola Faith when it left Conwy Harbour on January 27, 2021. It capsized and sank 1.9 miles north of Rhos-on-Sea. A report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch found skipper Carl McGrath pushed his crew harder than most in search of greater productivity. Aged 34, Mr McGrath had been the boat’s skipper for some three years. Previously a builder and steel fabricator, he had had no fishing experience prior to skippering the Nicola Faith. Despite this, he had completed all mandatory fishing industry safety training courses. Neither had Ross Ballantine, 39, any prior experience of fishing before taking a job on the Nicola Faith, on which he had been working for about eight months. The youngest crew member was Alan Minard, 20, who had been crewing on Nicola Faith for just two weeks. >click to read< 14:00
F/V Johanna C: Life raft failure blamed after fishermen deaths
Two fishermen died after their trawler capsized and their life raft failed to inflate, a report has said. Investigators said the failure of the life raft “impacted” the chances of two men surviving after they were thrown into the water when the Joanna C sank in November 2020. One of the men in the water died, but the other was later rescued. A third crew member drowned after being trapped in the sinking boat, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch said. MAIB chief inspector Andrew Moll said: “Unfortunately, Joanna C’s ‘float-free’ life raft arrangements did not work as expected. >click to read< 10:38
F/V Louisa: Fishermen drowned because of faulty gas cylinder used for life raft
Three men who drowned at sea after their fishing boat sank during the night would “almost certainly” have survived if a gas cylinder used to inflate their life raft had been properly maintained, a sheriff has concluded. Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle says “dysfunctional” working practices at maintenance firm Thameside Fire Protection meant a CO2 cylinder on board the Louisa had been misleadingly labelled as full when it was empty. “It is also beyond doubt that the reason the liferaft did not inflate was because the CO2 cylinder did not work.” >click to read< 14:15
Tragic sinking of F/V Louisa was an ‘unusual and exceptional’ event
Martin Johnstone, 29, Chris Morrison, 27, and skipper Paul Alliston, 42, were asleep when the creel vessel Louisa began taking on water while at anchor near Mingulay, off the Outer Hebrides, on April 9 2016. An inquiry before Sheriff Derek Pyle, at Lochmaddy Sheriff Court in North Uist, has been told how what happened to the stricken Stornoway-registered vessel was “a very unusual and exceptional event”. It heard how the vessel sank by the bow and foundered, probably due to flooding of the hold, with the exhausted crew all in their accommodation and asleep when the incident occurred. >click to read< 12:25
F/V Joanna C: Sinking findings released year after tragedy
Experts investigating the sinking of the scalloper F/V Joanna C, which went down in November last year with the loss of two lives, have completed their investigation. The crew were recovering their fishing gear when the boat capsized, the interim report confirms. A full report is now being prepared on the incident in which Brixham fisherman Adam Harper and crewmate Robert Morley died. Skipper Dave Bickerstaff was rescued from the sea after hanging on to a lifebuoy for four hours after raising the alarm. >click to read< 13:17
Three crew members missing after life raft from F/V Nicola Faith washed ashore
The raft was found off the coast of Kirkcudbrightshire in southwest Scotland by the HM Coastguard yesterday. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has positively identified the raft as being from the Nicola Faith, which went missing with its three crew members off the coast of Colwyn Bay in North Wales on January 27. “The search for the vessel, which is being co-ordinated by the MAIB, is continuing. >click to read< 08:37
Official inquiry launched into the sinking of the F/V Joanna C, an exclusion zone has been set
An exclusion zone has been set up around the wrecked Brixham scalloper as part of the investigation. An official government investigation into the sinking of the Brixham fishing boat Joanna C has begun. The 45-foot scalloper went down early in the morning on November 21. The MAIB (Marine Accident Investigation Branch) investigates all maritime accidents in UK waters and accidents involving UK registered ships worldwide. It sets out to establish the cause of accidents, to promote awareness of risks and prevent recurrence. >click to read< 08:42
Inspector of marine accidents and ex-commercial fisherman Sean Friday shares his views on the challenges facing commercial fishing and his journey to the MAIB.
To mark this year’s Maritime Safety Week and the launch of the Home and Dry Campaign by the Fishing Industry Safety Group, Sean Friday, an inspector of marine accidents for 8 years, talks candidly about his journey to the MAIB and what can be done to make commercial fishing safer. Tell us about your career to date and your journey to the MAIB? Although I had always wanted to go to sea, on my father’s insistence my career began with an engineering apprenticeship as a civilian in the British Army. With this providing a good grounding I went to sea as a deckhand in the fishing industry and progressed to the role of skipper of one the UK’s largest fishing vessels. >click to read< 09:39
Fishing which cost five Scottish lives in a year is ‘most dangerous’ UK job
Commercial fishing has become Britain’s most dangerous occupation with six fishermen dying in the space of just one year. New accident investigation data shows that five of the six deaths occurred in Scottish waters.,,, The revelation comes two weeks after campaigners raised concerns that the number of workplace deaths had rocketed by over 70% in 2018 in Scotland, fueled by a rise in deaths in agriculture, forestry and fishing. >click to read< 18:39
Fishing vessel crew “ill prepared” for emergency, resulting in death of a fisherman
The crew of a fishing vessel on which a man died after being dragged overboard were “ill-prepared” for the emergency, an investigation has found. Mark Elder, 26, was shooting creels on board the North Star when his leg became entangled in ropes and the skipper was not able to stop the boat before he was pulled into the water at about 6.15pm on February 5 this year. Fellow crewmen recovered him from the water about 10 minutes later and carried out CPR continuously for almost 90 minutes, but were not able to revive him. >click to read<14:44
The Fight to Raise the Sapphire – ‘We proved everybody wrong and we got our boys home’
When four crewmen perished on the Peterhead fishing boat Sapphire 20 years ago, relatives began a campaign to have their bodies recovered from inside the sunken trawler. The 76-tonne boat sank in the North Sea, 12 miles off the Aberdeenshire coast, on 1 October 1997. The UK government refused to finance the recovery of the bodies, 270ft (90m) below the surface, saying it was policy not to bring back the bodies of those lost at sea. Shipping minister Glenda Jackson and Prime Minister Tony Blair were criticised for the decision at the time. The families of the dead men began an appeal to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds to fund the operation. click here to read the story 10:28
Sapphire tragedy impact being felt 20 years later – “You’re thinking to yourself: ‘There but for the grace of God . . .” “But you never get used to these tragedies or the impact they have on so many different people. click here to read the story
Boat owner admits safety breaches following death of Northumberland fishermen
The owner of a boat on which two Northumberland fishermen died of carbon monoxide poisoning has pleaded guilty to breaching safety laws. Mark Arries, 26, and Edward Ide, 21, were found dead on the fishing vessel Eshcol as it was moored in Whitby harbour in January 2014. The pair were using the grill of a gas cooker to warm the boat overnight as they slept. A trial is being held at Leeds Crown Court to determine if boat owner Timothy Bowman-Davies was aware that the crew were using the cooker as a heating source. Bowman-Davies, 44, from Haverford West, Pembrokeshire, admitted failing to ensure that the ship was operated safely and that work equipment was maintained efficiently. click here to read the story 13:39
MAIB Report: Fisherman’s desperate attempts to save life of brother dragged beneath the waves off coast near Hartlepool
An experienced young fisherman became fatally entangled in ropes when unsafe practices were being carried out onboard a commercial fishing boat, a report has concluded. Lee Renney was dragged under water while working on the Pauline Mary off the coast of Hartlepool last September. Today, the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch has issued a damning report about the fatal accident. The 22-year-old was working alongside his brother, who was the skipper of the boat, when he was pulled overboard as he was dropping the lobster pots. Investigators said the brothers – both experienced fishermen from Hartlepool – had only been working on the Pauline Mary for two days and were laying out the pots for the first time from the vessel. click here to read the story 13:44
North-east boat that sank and killed three fishermen had fatal flaw on deck
Investigators probing a trawler disaster which left three fishermen dead found a fatal flaw on the deck of the vessel. A survey of the wreck of the Ocean Way revealed ports designed to allow water to drain away were not big enough to stop it being swamped by the sea. The 55ft Fraserburgh-registered vessel capsized and sank in bad weather off the north-east coast of England. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has now released its report,, Read the article here 17:58
Fishing Vessel Losses Top U.K. Accident Statistics
The U.K. Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published its Annual Report highlighting the work of the branch during 2014. Highlighted in the report is the loss of life in the fishing sector. Twelve commercial fishing vessels were lost in 2014 compared with 18 in 2013. This compares favourably with the average losses during the last 10 years (19 vessels per year). 75 percent of the losses were in the small < 15 metre sector. Eight fishermen lost their lives in 2014 compared with only four lives lost in 2013. The average number of fishermen who lost their lives over the last 10 years is 8.5. Read the rest here The report is available here. 09:18
