Trawler sank after crew made the largest catch they'd ever seen, report finds
The UK registered stern trawler Njord, skippered by Danny Normandale from Scarborough, capsized and sank 150 miles north-east of Peterhead. Deckhand Ronald MacKinnon, 56, drowned in the incident on March 6 2022.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch said the trawler had already made a large catch the previous week. However this – over a gas pipeline in the recently opened Norway sector – was even bigger “over 30 times the size of a normal haul”.
The catch was the largest the crew had ever seen, an estimated 700 to 750 boxes of fish.
The report said: “A large catch meant significant remuneration for all of the crew as share fishermen, and their delight might have influenced their judgement of and consideration towards safety when dealing with this exceptional volume of fish”.
It said: “Njord’s crew were processing an unusually large haul of fish as the vessel progressively listed to starboard. Despite this the crew continued to bring more fish on board, further increasing the list to the point of downflooding. Njord eventually capsized and sank.”
The MAIB concluded that “the weight of fish in the net secured to its starboard side caused the vessel to list to an angle where downflooding could occur through the starboard passageway drain hole.”
It said it was likely that Njord would not have capsized had the valve on the drain been closed, as it should have been, while at sea.
The report also found that modifications made to Njord in 2021 to allow it to catch prawns “reduced the safety margin of the vessel’s transverse stability and that this, coupled with the way the vessel was operated on the day, directly led to Njord capsizing”.
The skipper cut the net to release the fish as the list grew worse but felt the vessel was in danger of capsizing. He attempted to make a Mayday call on the VHF radio but the battery failed.
As the ship capsized there was no time for anyone to fetch their lifejackets but they were able to climb over the handrails onto the hull’s port side.
Two life rafts did not surface, but the emergency beacon floated free, and a helicopter was scrambled by the Norwegian coastguard from an oil platform 14 miles away. Within minutes of its arrival, Njord sank and the crew ended up in the water. Three were winched into the helicopter, including Mr MacKinnon, but he could not be saved. The others were rescued by a craft from a nearby vessel, Olympic Challenger.
MAIB reports aim to identify safety issues and provide recommendations to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future, rather than assigning blame.
It has issued a safety flyer highlighting the importance of operating fishing vessels in line with the assumptions made in stability books and reminding operators to consult with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency before undertaking any significant modifications.