The Marine Casualty Investigation Board has found the Irish supertrawler, Atlantic Dawn, was not complying with manning regulations when its acting second mate, Mr Michael McGuinness, died in a deck accident last October.
The investigation board's report says the 144-metre vessel was not crewed in accordance with the Minimum Safe Manning document at the time. Mr McGuinness, a highly experienced Co Donegal fisherman, became entangled in net handling machinery on the deck of the ship on October 12th, 2002, while it was en route from Las Palmas to Holland. He died as a result of the injuries he sustained.
The investigation by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) found that Mr McGuinness was handling the net moving crane on his own, which was not common practice on board. Normally the equipment is used by two people, with one person working the controls and the second concentrating on the nets.
Mr McGuinness was trying to move a new net from the rear of the bin to the front, and got snagged in the gear. He was unable to free himself and sustained fatal injuries when he came into contact with the power block and net bin. There was no mechanical failure or fault in the equipment, the report says, but it notes that the roller controller lever on the control panel for the gear does not have a spring-loaded "return to neutral" mechanism.
The report notes that Mr McGuinness was an experienced seafarer, who had worked on the Atlantic Dawn since it was launched in 2000, and had previously worked for seven years on the Veronica - also owned by Mr Kevin McHugh of Killybegs. He had been on board for about four weeks and was due to go home in about a week when the fatal accident happened.
The report says that there were 27 crew on board at the time. It says that the Atlantic Dawn did not comply with manning regulations on the date of the accident.
The MCIB report recommends that the owners of any large fishing vessel should introduce written safety procedures on board relating to use of deck and other machinery, and these should be in languages that are understood by all of the crew. Warning signs should supplement these procedures where appropriate, it says.
It also says that the owners and operators of fishing vessels should consider the use of spring-loaded "return to neutral" control levers on all deck equipment. It says that the safety statement on any fishing vessel should be an "evolving document" and risk assessment should be carried out to highlight areas of high, medium and low risk. A marine notice should be issued warning seafarers of the danger of not adhering to proper procedures when using machinery.
