Tag Archives: Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Shetland trawler hits out at ‘dangerous’ encounter
A Shetland based trawler crew have hit out at the “dangerous” behaviour of a French boat which they claim tried to entangle their propeller with a rope. The crew of Lerwick-based Defiant videoed the encounter with the Antonio Maria, 18 miles off Shetland, just outside UK territorial waters. Fishermen are now calling for tougher action and powers for the authorities to prevent lives being put at risk. The owners of the French vessel have been approached for comment. Defiant’s skipper, Magnus Polson, said he was in disbelief during the incident. >>click to read<< 11:30
Seafood firm fined over Thurso fisherman’s death
Mark Elder, 26, from Thurso, was working on the creel boat North Star off Cape Wrath on 5 February 2018. He was helping to deploy creels when he became entangled in a coil of rope and was dragged overboard and into the sea. Thurso-based Scrabster Seafoods Ltd was fined after pleading guilty to health and safety breaches. On Wednesday, Tain Sheriff Court heard Mr Elder’s crew-mates tried to stop him from going into the water. It took about 10 minutes for him to be brought back on board. Efforts to resuscitate Mr Elder continued for more than an hour but were unsuccessful. >click to read< 09:59
Fat fishermen face ban from working at sea unless they get their BMI below 35 due to ‘ludicrous’ new medical rules
Fishermen with a body mass index of 35 could be banned from working at sea in new ‘ludicrous’ medical rules. From November onwards fishermen will need a doctor-approved medical certificate to work displaying their BMI. The Government has argued these changes will ensure fishermen do not risk an accident at sea. But skippers have argued that no evidence has been provided by officials to suggest their weight puts their safety at risk. The rules from the International Labour Organisation’s Work in Fishing Convention were adopted by the UK in 2018 but the Government allowed a five-year window for workers to get the required medical certificates. >click to read< 17:09
Training for new recruits needs to be extended says Seafish.
Simon Potten, Head of Safety and Training, discusses how local engagement and more training could be the key to making the fishing industry safer. During Maritime Safety Week (4-8 July) which was a great platform for raising national awareness of safety in the commercial fishing industry. We have been supporting Maritime Safety Week since it was started by the Department for Transport in 2018. In those five years there have been 23 deaths on commercial fishing vessels in the UK. Unfortunately, most of them came in 2021 when we tragically lost 10 fishermen. The worst year in over a decade for lives lost. Which is why I think Maritime Safety Week is more important this year than ever before. So, what can we do to make the fishing industry safer? >click to continue< 12:13
Fishermen say survival training could prove vital
Five fishermen have undertaken man overboard training to help reduce incidents at sea. The free in-water courses held in Aberdeen, demonstrate how to avoid overboard incidents, and what can be done to recover and improve the chances of survival. The environment pool training facility at energy sector training provider Survivex, which simulates some of the conditions experienced at sea, including heavy swells and rain. The session was funded by the Fishing Industry Safety Group, a partnership between the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, RNLI, fishermen’s associations from across the UK and public body Seafish. >click to read< 18:30
Safety Bulletin 17: Safety concern over lifting operations on fishing vessels
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency are issuing this safety bulletin to remind owners, employers, skippers and crew of UK fishing vessels of their responsibilities regarding health and safety following a number near misses, accidents, and a fatality – during lifting operations. Although applicable to all fishing vessels it is scallop dredgers that are of immediate concern. >click to read< -22:27
‘Why is the fishing industry having to fight their own government for survival?’
The fishing industry is seeking urgent clarification from government in the light of growing evidence that local vessels are being prevented from fishing traditional grounds by foreign owned and crewed fishing vessels. The issue was raised by Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael during a fishing debate in parliament on Tuesday morning. The Orkney and Shetland MP told UK fishing minister Victoria Prentis that he had urged her to give powers to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to police the waters out to the 200-mile limit at the time the post Brexit fisheries bill was passing through parliament last autumn. >click to read< 13:22
Frustration as F/V Pesorsa Dos returns to local fishing grounds
Local fishermen are up in arms after the German registered gill-netter F/V Pesorsa Dos reappeared in the waters to the west of Shetland. Last year, the Spanish owned vessel was in the centre of a huge controversy after the crew of the Alison Kay (LK57) posted a video that appeared to show the gill netter trying to foul the local trawler’s propeller. Following Brexit and the “hugely disappointing” trade deal, the UK has become an independent coastal state, but EU vessels continue to have full access to UK waters until 2026. >click to read< 18:26
Fisherman Leigh Spencer who died in trawler incident identified
A fisherman who died in an incident on a trawler off the coast of Cornwall has been named locally. Leigh Spencer, 50, from Millbrook was fatally injured on the vessel on Saturday. Devon and Cornwall Police said a second crew member was taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital with minor injuries and later discharged. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) confirmed the vessel was a beam trawler called The Cornishman, which is now back in Newlyn. >click to read< 13:43
One Fisherman is Dead and One is Injured in Fishing Boat ‘Incident’ Off UK Coast
A Coast Guard helicopter from Newquay, Cornwall responded to an emergency incident 50 miles off the coast of the Isles of Scilly along with an RNLI lifeboat from St Mary’s, in which a male crew member of a fishing vessel reportedly died, according to local police. The crew member, part of a Newlyn based fishing vessel, died in a “serious accident” at sea and another crew member has been seriously injured onboard the deck of the FV Cornishman. >click to read< 15:22
Spanish F/V Pesorsa Dos detained in Irish waters and escorted to Killybegs
The F/V Pesorsa Dos was detained by the Irish Naval Service for alleged breaches to fishing regulations in Irish waters around 25 miles off Malin Head on Friday. She arrived at Killybegs on Tuesday morning after it had taken a few days to recover all of her gear. The Spanish owned gill-netter stands accused of attempting to foul the propeller of the local trawler F/V Alison Kay at the end of June during a confrontation 30 miles to the west of Shetland. At the time fishermen shared a number of video clips showing the incident,,, >click to read< 15:50
With demands for an investigation, Skipper describes how local boats are pushed out of fishing grounds – >click to read<
Scotland: Deep concern over failure to use PFD’s after fishing industry deaths
A safety warning has been issued to the fishing industry about the mandatory wearing of lifejackets (PFD’s) as concerns grow about deaths caused by not wearing them, despite moves to supply them free to Scottish boats. New figures show that six of the 12 fishermen who have died at sea in 2018 and 2019 were not wearing lifejackets,, The MAIB has said deaths in the water from those not wearing PFD was of “great concern” and said that “embedding behavioural change” could half the fatality rate in the fishing industry. It comes a year after the end of a scheme to supply PFDs to fishermen on Scottish-registered boats, with the intention of increasing the usage of a flotation garment while working on the open deck. Some 3,500 personal flotation devices (PFDs) were supplied,,, >click to read< 08:55
With demands for an investigation, Skipper describes how local boats are pushed out of fishing grounds
James Anderson said the 27 metre long German-registered fishing boat Pesorsa Dos could have caused serious damage to the Alison Kay had she been successful in her alleged attempts of running a line through the Alison Kay’s propeller during an incident off the west coast of Shetland last week. Video footage of the confrontation was widely shared by fishermen on social media and picked up by a number of news organisations. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has been informed. Politicians and fishermen’s organisations have called for an investigation to be conducted. >click to read< 08:12
Fishermen post shocking video footage of ‘intolerable’ behaviour
Fishermen have described the conduct of Spanish gill-netters to the northwest of Shetland as “intolerable” after video footage was posted on social media showing a Spanish gill-netter allegedly attempting to run a rope through the propeller of a local whitefish trawler. This latest video evidence takes the ongoing skirmishes over access to fishing grounds to a new level and highlights why the local fishing industry is so keen to leave the European Union, and with it the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The battle between Spanish gill-netters and local trawler men has been ongoing for a long time with most local whitefish boats reporting over the years that they have been at the receiving end of attempts to drive them out of their traditional fishing grounds. >Video, click to read< 14:46
Lifejacket probe widened following Fishing Vessel Louisa fishermen deaths
An investigation into the performance of lifejackets worn by three fishermen who died after their boat sank has been widened out to other parts of Europe. The men lost their lives after abandoning the crab boat Louisa off Mingulay last year. The coastguard and maritime accident investigators have been examining the lifejackets and how they are tested. Partners agencies elsewhere in Europe have been contacted about a wider research and testing programme. The survival aids involved in the Louisa incident are understood to be widely used.,,On the latest developments, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: “This is the first time we have had a concern identified with an in-service lifejacket and we are investigating urgently. click here to read the story 20:21
“Cavalier” skipper who sailed at night without navigation lights is jailed
A skipper who sailed at night without navigation lights or safety equipment has been jailed. Shane Barton was caught at the helm of the Nicky Noo on a number of occasions between May 22 2014 and October 20 2016 when the fishing vessel contravened safety laws. The 42-year-old was caught by enforcement officers in Christchurch, as well as Fowey in Cornwall and Castlebridge in Devon, operating without navigation lights, safety equipment or a properly-trained crew. In mid-October last year, the safety certificate for the Nicky Noo expired. A spokesperson from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said Judge Ian Lawrie, sentencing the defendant at Plymouth Crown Court, called Barton “complacent and arrogant” and had shown a “cavalier attitude” to the safety of his crew. Read the story here 08:57
Scottish Fishermen’s Federation opposes compulsory wearing of lifejackets for commercial fishermen.
The MAIB said that the four fishermen who lost their lives during three accidents off Orkney, the Western Isles and Pembrokeshire could all have survived had they been wearing personal floating devices (PFDs). With the loss of nine fishermen at sea so far this year, the MAIB said the rate with which fishermen were losing their lives by drowning was showing no sign of abating. Safety officer for the SFF, Derek Cardno said an industry-led a scheme to supply PFDs to every fisherman in Scotland had a strong uptake. He added: “We are not convinced that making the wearing of a PFD a mandatory requirement will make the sole difference that is required. “We believe it is much better to focus on education and creating a new mind-set among fishermen. Read the rest here 13:53
