Flooding and sinking of seiner/trawler Christine Nielsen

Location: 120 miles north-east of River Tyne, England.

From:
Marine Accident Investigation Branch
Published
23 January 2015
Vessel type:
Fishing vessel
Report type:
Investigation report
Date of occurrence:
18 March 2001

Accident Investigation Report 38/2001

Read our marine accident investigation report, which includes what happened, actions taken and subsequent recommendations:

christine-nielsen-text.pdf (2,003.16 kb)

Summary

On 18 March 2001, fishing vessel Christine Nielsen suffered substantial flooding and sank 120 miles north-east of the River Tyne.

Safety Issues

  • a breach in the hull plating
  • failure of a non-return valve in an overboard discharge, resulting in back-flooding
  • engine room seawater piping failure due to erosion/corrosion
  • the wheelhouse was unattended for approximately 8 hours
  • lack of a watertight bulkhead between the engine room and cabin

Recommendations

A recommendation has been made to the skipper/owner of the vessel to ensure the wheelhouse is manned at all times at sea on any future vessel under their ownership.

This report was published in November 2001.

Published 23 January 2015