At about 0300 on 18 February 2021, a deckhand fell overboard from the twin rig stern trawler Copious (LK 985) approximately 30 nautical miles south-east of the Shetland Islands. The deckhand was conscious, wearing a lifejacket and was quickly brought alongside the vessel. However, the crew’s attempts to recover the casualty back on board were unsuccessful. He was unresponsive when recovered from the water by a coastguard helicopter and pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.
Safety Issues
– The deckhand fell overboard while attempting a repair to the trawl gear. There was no attempt to stop and consider the repair and the activity was not effectively risk assessed or mitigated. Continue reading “MAIB report published into death overboard from Copious”
At about 0736 on 28 August 2021, the owner and skipper of the lone-operated creel fishing vessel Harriet J accidentally entered the water while shooting the fishing gear. The unmanned vessel motored away and the skipper was neither able to reboard the vessel nor call for assistance. There were no witnesses to the accident and the alarm was raised by the skipper of another fishing vessel working in the area, who observed the unmanned vessel at 0745.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch has published the MAIB Safety Digest April 2023, the first of its two biannual publications featuring a wide selection of case studies.
Now, a Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) report is recommending that racing yacht owners should ensure their auxiliary engines provide the necessary power for their craft to make a safe passage. In addition, the MCIB says risks associated with refuelling outboards at sea need to be highlighted.
Andrew Moll OBE, Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents at the
