Sailor dies after being swept overboard by cable, report says

A sailor died after becoming entangled in a rope which pulled him overboard, an inquest heard.

The man was hauling pots on board the fishing boat Kingfisher when the incident happened off Wick in the Highlands on July 12.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) considered it likely that he inadvertently passed a button on the basket rope through a loop in his personal flotation device (PFD) when connecting the basket to the rope.

After being pulled overboard, the deckhand’s life jacket automatically inflated and he surfaced, leading the crew to believe he was free from the stern rope and was floating free.

They cut the stern rope and maneuvered the vessel to rescue the man, but found he was still attached to the equipment and had been pulled underwater by the trap float.

He was recovered on board but despite the efforts of the ship’s crew, the RNLI lifeboat crew and a paramedic from a Her Majesty’s Coastguard rescue helicopter, he could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead.

In a report of its initial findings, the MAIB said: “Following the recovery of the sailor, it was found that the leg rope from the last basket that had been taken was threaded through the red lifting strap of the PFD.

“This had tied the sailor to the stern cable and caused him to fall overboard.

“It is likely that the sailor inadvertently passed the basket leg cable button through the red strap when connecting the basket to the rear cable.”

The MAIB said the PFD safety buckle posed an unidentified entanglement hazard and issued a safety bulletin to the fishing industry.

It recommends that owners and crews of pot fishing vessels review their risk assessments for working on deck to ensure that hazards associated with setting or retrieving pots, such as the risk of entrapment in a running stern rope, are fully mitigated.

It also recommends that, where provided, PFDs are of the required standard and suitable for the work being carried out, and that where new hazards are identified, information is shared promptly among crew and alternative PPE is found as soon as possible.

The MAIB will publish a full report once its investigation into the incident is complete.

She specifies that the security recommendations “must in no case create a presumption of fault or responsibility.”