Commercial fishing is certainly not a job for the faint hearted. Crew are at the mercy of the weather, out at sea and miles from home.
Despite the UK's long fishing tradition and the abundance of regulations in place, in 2012 nine fishing vessels were lost and six crew members died in British seas, according to statistics published by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). The number of people injured came to 50, with machinery failure accounting for the largest number of reported incidents
The sad reality is that despite the development of technology, legislation and more precise and detailed weather forecasts, fishing still poses a great number of hazards, even when the crew are just getting on with their daily activities.
There are ongoing efforts to improve safety at sea and a number of agencies keep working to help improve crew training and tackle persistent problems, such as fishermen’s reluctance to put on lifejackets while carrying out routine work.
Every year, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) receive between 1,500 and 2,000 incident reports, of which 40 to 50 become full investigations with published reports. The choice of which incidents are investigated is made on the basis of the scope of the safety lessons that may be learned.
In 2012, 30 reports were published by the MAIB. For example, in March, there was a collision between the cargo vessels Seagate and Timor Stream, 24 nautical miles north of the Dominican Republic. All 20 of Timor Stream’s crew and all 21 people aboard Seagate were unharmed, but the accident led to 3,300 gallons of diesel fuel and about 1,500 gallons of lubrication oil leaking from Seagate into the oceanIn the same month, the coaster Union Moon and the passenger ferry Stena Feronia collided at the Fairway Buoy at the mouth of Belfast Lough. In May 2012, Purbeck Isle sank, killing all three on board; the following September trawler Sarah Jayne capsized, resulting in one crew member dying. The subsequent investigations concluded that the sinking of the Purbeck Isle and the Sarah Jane was due to excessive vessel loading.