The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published its report on its investigation into the fatal man overboard incident involving the UK-registered crab fishing vessel Amadeus in the North Sea.
At around 09:00 local time on December 13, 2023, a deckhand on Amadeus fell overboard while recovering crab pots in rough seas in the German Bight. Despite immediate recovery attempts, the deckhand became unresponsive within minutes in cold water and could not be recovered.
A major search and rescue operation was launched but was unsuccessful in locating the deckhand.
The MAIB learned that the pot hauling method required crew to lean over the vessel’s side in an unstable posture, creating a significant risk of falling overboard, and that no effective fall prevention measures were in place during pot hauling operations.
The casualty was rapidly incapacitated in cold water and, without a personal flotation device, survivability was significantly reduced.
The investigation also revealed that the vessel was unprepared for a man overboard emergency; drills had not been practised and recovery arrangements were not ready for immediate use.
The crew’s working pattern resulted in significant fatigue, and existing work and rest rules did not prevent this risk from becoming embedded in routine operations.
Lastly, safety management arrangements and regulatory assurance processes did not ensure that risks were effectively identified, controlled or monitored.
Safety recommendations have been made to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to improve manual handling guidance, strengthen the management of fishermen’s working time and fatigue risk, extend fatigue protections more consistently to all fishermen, mandate proportionate safety management systems for fishing vessels of 15 metres length overall and above, and strengthen survey, inspection and enforcement processes.
Safety recommendations have also been made to the vessel’s operating company to improve man overboard preparedness, assess and reduce the manual handling risks associated with pot hauling, establish verifiable arrangements for managing crew work and rest hours, and implement a structured safety management system to support safe working practices on board.
