Fishing boat capsizing traced to skipper's failure to understand stability performance
The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published its report on the investigation into the June 18, 2021 capsizing of the UK-registered stern trawler Angelena off the coast of England.
On the said date, the vessel capsized and sank about eight nautical miles south-east of Exmouth while its fishing gear was being recovered by the lone skipper. The end of the net was full of sand, mud and fish and, once lifted clear of the water, the net swung to away from the vessel’s side, causing it to capsize.
The skipper did not have time to raise the alarm before entering the water. The skipper was wearing a lifejacket fitted with a personal locator beacon and managed to swim to the vessel’s liferaft, which had floated free. The skipper activated the personal locator beacon once in the liferaft and was rescued unharmed by a nearby vessel.
Safety issues
The vessel was not required to meet any stability standard. Consequently, the skipper did not understand the stability performance of their own vessel.
By operating the fishing vessel alone, the skipper could not maintain a safe navigational watch, operate the fishing gear, and deal with any difficult situations.
The liferaft was not secured such that it could automatically float free, inflate, and break free.
Recommendations
Recommendations (2024/125, 2024/126 and 2024/127) have been made to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to improve fishers’ understanding of stability, require risk assessments that define minimum crewing levels for fishing operations, and align definitions across its notices and publications.
A recommendation (2024/128) has also been made to the skipper of Angelena to attend the Seafish Advanced Stability Awareness course.
Related publications
A safety flyer to the fishing industry was produced with this report, highlighting the importance of undertaking a full stability assessment following modifications to fishing vessels.
