Man overboard from creel fishing vessel Varuna with loss of 1 life

Location: west of Camusterrach on the north-west coast of Scotland.

From:
Marine Accident Investigation Branch
Published
4 July 2018
Vessel type:
Fishing vessel
Report type:
Investigation report
Date of occurrence:
20 November 2017

Accident Investigation Report 13/2018

Investigation report into marine accident including what happened and safety lessons learned:

MAIB investigation report 13-2018: Varuna

Creel boat Varuna

Summary

At about 1415 on 20 November 2017, the single-handed creel boat Varuna was found aground and unmanned on Eilean nan Naomh, a small island west of Camusterrach on the north west coast of Scotland. Despite an extensive sea, land and air search the owner was not found until 3 weeks after the accident when his body washed ashore in Staffin Bay on the Isle of Skye.

Safety lessons

  • the owner did not use the slot-in transom door following shooting, or wear a safety tether on deck therefore the chances of falling through the shooting gate were significantly increased

  • the owner was not wearing a PFD or lifejacket

  • the owner did not carry a PLB therefore he had no means of alerting anyone once he had fallen overboard

Recommendations

In view of recent and proposed changes to legislation, no recommendations are made in this report.

A safety flyer to the fishing industry highlighting a number of the safety lessons was produced for this report.

Published 4 July 2018

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