Grounding and sinking of stern trawler Faithful Friend II

Location: Rocks off Bayble Island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.

Completed PE Summary: Faithful Friend II

A short summary of the accident and action taken:

Fishing Vessel/Accident Details
Vessel Name Faithful Friend II
Vessel Owner Privately owned
Port of Registry Fraserburgh
Flag UK
Type Stern trawler
Built 1970
Construction Wood
Length Overall 17.92m
Gross Tonnage 54
Date/Time 06/11/2008, 0643 (UTC)
Location of Incident Off Bayble Island, 58º 11.2 N 006º 12.27 W
Incident Type Grounding and sinking
Persons Onboard 3
Injuries/Fatalities None
Damage/Pollution Vessel lost/Minor pollution

Synopsis

Faithful Friend II was on passage to her fishing grounds when the skipper left the wheelhouse to make a cup of coffee. The vessel was on a north-easterly course with the autopilot engaged; it was dark and the vessel was within 0.5 mile of the shore. A few minutes later, the vessel struck charted rocks off Bayble Island and started to take water rapidly. The skipper immediately alerted the vessel’s two deckhands, who were asleep below. A “Mayday” was transmitted on VHF radio before the skipper and his crew abandoned the vessel into a liferaft. The “Mayday” was received by the local coastguard station, and by a nearby fishing vessel, which recovered the men from the liferaft within 15 minutes. Faithful Friend II sank shortly afterwards.

Action taken

The Deputy Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents has written to the vessel’s owners strongly advising them to ensure the wheelhouse watchkeeping practices adopted on any fishing vessels they own or skipper in the future are in accordance with the guidance provided by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Published: December 2008


Updates to this page

Published 23 January 2015