As Maritime Safey Week begins, the MAIB will be publishing a series of blogs reiterating safety messages to the industry

Andrew Moll OBE, the chief inspector of marine accidents, said:

Maritime Safety Week 2022 has officially begun.

This is a significant time for the marine industry to get together and concentrate on how we can all work to continue to improve safety in the industry.

The MAIB intends to emphasize many significant areas of continued concern this week and reinforce the safety warnings that the industry must take care of, as it has in past years.

I’m going to focus on fishing vessel safety today because it still needs my undivided attention.

Ten commercial fisherman died in 2021, and nine of the 22 investigations that the MAIB started last year included fishing vessels.

However, we won’t lose sight of the need to increase safety and we’ll keep working to uncover the reasons of mishaps aboard fishing boats so that we may learn from them and stop other tragedies in this riskiest of occupations.

A major recurring safety concern for fishing boats is stability.

The terrible catastrophes aboard the potting vessels Nicola Faith and Joanna C have recently been the subject of reports, which have brought to light how changes might jeopardize a vessel’s stability.

However, stability can also be jeopardized during fishing operations, as in the case of the Nicola Faith catastrophe, when there is an overload.

Although the yacht had undergone a number of unauthorized alterations, our examination revealed that significant overloading caused by a mix of catch and fishing gear was the primary cause of the capsize.

The consequence in this catastrophe was that all three crew members lost their lives.

I would advise all captains and crews to examine their ship’s stability carefully and pose some potentially difficult questions to themselves as we begin Maritime Safety Week.

How much has our ship’s stability been compromised by modifications since it was built? Do we have a secure method in place in case the fishing equipment gets tangled up or picks up a huge load?

Are we making the most of the fish hold to lessen the weight on deck?

I would advise crews to read the Nicola Faith and Joanna C reports and pay attention to the takeaways the investigations revealed.