Capsize of multipurpose fishing vessel Betty G while beam trawling

Location: Lyme Bay, England.

Accident Investigation Report 6/2013

Investigation report into marine accident including what happened, safety lessons and recommendations made:

BettyG.pdf (411.48 kb)

Summary

At approximately 0130 on 23 July 2012, the 9.92m fishing vessel Betty G capsized while beam trawling. All three crew were rescued approximately 10 hours later.

Safety issues

  • the vessel capsized as a result of the load in the starboard trawl net releasing suddenly
  • no distress message was transmitted and no alarm was raised, even though the vessel was fitted with an EPIRB and MOB Guardian

Recommendations

A recommendation (2013/201) has been made to the owner of Betty G to assess and counter the risks associated with recovering fishing gear, and to improve crew emergency preparedness on any fishing vessel he may own in the future.

This report was published on 7 February 2013.

Published 23 January 2015