Collision between pair trawlers Fertile II and Aquarius resulting in Fertile II sinking

Location: High seas.

Completed PE Summary: Fertile II/Aquarius

A short summary of the accident and action taken:

Fishing Vessel 1/Accident Details
Vessel name Fertile II
Registered Owner and Manager Buckie Inshore Fish Selling Co Ltd
Port of Registry Banff
Flag UK
Type Trawler
Built 1999
Construction Steel
Gross Tonnage 251
Date/Time 28/08/2005, 1304
Location of Incident Foreign high seas
Incident Type Collision
Injuries/Fatalities None
Damage/Pollution Ship Lost
Fishing Vessel 2/Accident Details
Vessel name Aquarius
Registered Owner and Manager MB Aquarius Ltd
Port of Registry Banff
Flag UK
Type Trawler
Built 1994
Construction Steel
Length Overall 20.8m
Gross Tonnage 189
Persons Onboard 5 Crew
Injuries/Fatalities None
Damage/Pollution Minor damage

Synopsis

Two steel trawlers were pair trawling together and making their last haul before returning to shore when they collided, resulting in the sinking of Fertile II. All the vessel’s crew were rescued and returned to port safely, onboard Aquarius.

Action taken

The Chief Inspector wrote to the skipper of Aquarius regarding the standard of lookout, communications and maintenance procedures and to the skipper of Fertile II regarding the standard of lookout, communications, use of life saving equipment and the use of VHF in the initiation of a mayday call.


Updates to this page

Published 23 January 2015