INVESTIGATION

CASE 20
Keep a Lookout
Narrative
Two wooden trawlers collided while steaming
to their fishing grounds. One of the trawlers
was badly damaged and started to flood
rapidly, but the vessel’s crew were able to
transfer to the other trawler before it sank.
Trawler A was heading south towards the
fishing grounds at 8kts. The skipper was alone,
seated in the wheelhouse chair and had spent
some time planning the day’s fishing. He
was not monitoring other vessels and he did
not see Trawler B until seconds before the
collision.
Trawler B had been drifting overnight and
was heading north-east towards a pre-planned
starting position for the day’s fishing. The
vessel’s watchkeeper had seldom been in the
wheelhouse during the 45 minutes before
the accident but he stopped his vessel in its
intended position and then went to wake
the skipper and the rest of the crew. The
watchkeeper had not seen Trawler A, which
was only 0.6nm away and heading directly
for Trawler B. It was only when Trawler B’s
watchkeeper returned to the wheelhouse that
he saw Trawler A extremely close off the port
side. Although he put the engine to full astern,
it was already too late to prevent the collision.
Trawler A struck Trawler B’s port shoulder.
Trawler A’s planking split either side of the
stem and water flooded into the cabin space
and quickly spread to the fish hold. Trawler B
suffered only minor damage. The two vessels
were manoeuvred alongside each other and
Trawler A’s crew stepped across to Trawler B.
A DSC alert was initiated and the coastguard
was informed of the situation by VHF radio.
Trawler A soon sank; its EPIRB and liferaft
surfaced moments later.
Interpolated positions
Vessel A
Vessel B
MAIB Safety Digest 1/2017
45