The Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) has published its annual report for 2024, disclosing that the organisation began investigations into four marine casualties last year, one of which was fatal.
One involved the grounding of the FV Ambitious Inishmore in Galway, where the crew were winched to safety from a life raft by the rescue helicopter R115.
In another, the crew of the FC Sainte Catherine Laboure were rescued, after the fishing vessel took on water in the area of Rockall Bank north west of Ireland and later sunk; the crew were taken to shore at Ullapool in Scotland by the FV Good Hope.
One man lost his life after he took a small aluminium vessel from Inishbofin to go lobster fishing; he was familiar with the area but there was a small craft warning in effect on the day.
The exact details of his death could not be determined, but the MCIB deduced that the most likely scenario is that the vessel capsized while the man was trying to dislodge a fouled lobster pot. The victim was wearing a lifejacket, however he had no means to communicate with anyone and was not noticed until the following day.
In the fourth, the MV Sea Breeze III sank off Skellig Michael; its 12 passengers had disembarked on the island, but the boat sank after taking on water at the base of the engine.
The 2024 figures are a great improvement on 2023’s eight fatalities and 11 incidents involving vessels.
The board noted there were another 67 incidents in 2024 involving the MCIB and their counterparts in other countries; these were all considered to be minor, or the investigation was undertaken by the other state.
Another 27 incidents were considered minor, and did not warrant investigation
In West Cork, one investigation concerned a crew member aboard the FV Aquila, who suffered crush injuries from the crane’s hydraulic system in 2021 as the vessel was fishing south of the Kinsale Gas Rigs.
The victim, a native of the Philippines, has since recuperated and has returned to work.
The MCIB determined that there was a ‘failure to recognise the risk’ by the crew member in the way he placed himself out of view of the crane operator.
In another incident, the sailing yacht Inish Ceinn went aground hitting rocks on its way towards Cape Clear in June 2023; the cause was a floating trawl net that became entangled on the bottom of the yacht and ‘completely immobilised’ the vessel.
All five aboard were evacuated by lifeboat and taken back to Baltimore, and the ‘calm response’ of the skipper was noted.
The source of the net could not be established, and though the vessel broke up no pollution was reported.
Another 2024 report detailed a power failure on the FV Eillie Adhamh, when the crew were returning to Castletownbere.
Although the emergency system activated, the batteries ran out after about eight hours, leaving the crew in darkness as weather and sea conditions were deteriorating at 6am in the morning. The FV Eillie Adhamh began to take on water, and the crew were unable to pump the water overboard.
The crew were ultimately airlifted ashore almost 48 hours after they had originally lost power.
The FV Eillie Adhamh sank off the Bull Rock the following morning, Sunday March 28th 2021.
The MICB determined that the skipper and crews lacked knowledge or training in emergency procedures, some equipment was in a defective condition, and the owner’s ‘apparent lack of appreciation of the stability characteristics of the vessel’.
