As Maritime Safety Week begins, UK MAIB’s Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents, Andrew Moll OBE is discussing fishing vessel safety.
According to Mr. Moll, fishing vessel safety continues to require the industry’s close attention. More specifically, in 2021, ten commercial fishermen lost their lives and nine out of the 22 investigations commenced by MAIB last year involved commercial fishing vessels.
However, we will not lose focus on improving safety and will continue to strive to understand the causes of accidents on board fishing vessels so lessons can be learned and more tragedies can be averted in this most dangerous of professions
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In addition, UK MAIB’s Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents, mentioned that the recent reports looking into the tragic accidents on board the potting vessels Nicola Faith and Joanna C have highlighted how modifications can compromise a vessel’s stability.
However, stability can also be compromised during fishing operations by, for example, overloading, which was the case in the accident involving Nicola Faith. The vessel had undergone several unapproved modifications, but the investigation found that the main trigger for the capsize was severe overloading by a combination of catch and fishing gear. The consequence in this accident was that all three crew members lost their lives.
At the start of Maritime Safety Week, I would encourage all skippers and crews to take a long hard look at their vessel’s stability and ask themselves some potentially challenging questions. How much have modifications eroded our vessel’s stability since it was built? Do we have a safe procedure for when the fishing gear becomes snagged or picks up a heavy load? Are we using the fish hold to best effect to minimise the weight on deck? I would urge crews to take a look at the Nicola Faith and Joanna C reports and heed the lessons the investigations identified
Mr. Moll concluded.