The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published its report on its investigation into a man overboard incident that led to the loss of one life off the coast of Scotland on July 12, 2024.
On the said date, the crew of the fishing vessel Kingfisher were engaged in manually shooting a string of creels approximately 30 nautical miles east-north-east of Wick, Scotland. A deckhand became entangled in a creel’s leg rope and was pulled overboard, where his personal flotation device (PFD) inflated on immersion.
Using the hauling winch, Kingfisher’s crew retrieved the backrope and recovered the now submerged deckhand on board within seven minutes.
Despite the efforts of the vessel’s crew, members of a Royal National Lifeboat Institution rescue boat, a paramedic from an HM Coastguard rescue helicopter, and crewmembers of an attending windfarm guard vessel, the deckhand could not be revived and was declared deceased.
The MAIB found that the deckhand inadvertently threaded the creel toggle through his PFD’s safety loop while connecting the toggle to the eye of the leg rope. The PFD’s safety loop was a snagging hazard that had not been identified.
The investigation also revealed that the vessel’s onboard risk assessment had not identified the unsuitability of the lifejacket for the work being carried out.
An urgent safety recommendation (S2024/129M) was made to the Home and Dry Safety Forum as part of this investigation to immediately communicate through its members the need for owners and crew of creel fishing boats to review their deck working risk assessments to ensure:
Full mitigation of hazards such as risk of entrapment in a running back rope;
That PFDs meet the required standard and are appropriate for the work undertaken;
When new hazards are identified, such as the risk of entanglement from loose lifting strops on PFDs, that the information is shared among crew and alternative personal protective equipment sourced as soon as possible
Browse Brothers Fisheries, owner of Kingfisher, has been recommended to review the risk assessment guidance in Marine Guidance Note 588 (F) Amendment 2 to determine the compatibility of PFDs supplied with the vessel’s working areas.
The owner has been advised to review the guidance to mitigate the risk of snagging, or damage to, PFDs so that they remain effective against the risk, to review its risk assessment methodology, and to ensure all crew have completed mandatory training.
