Eight crew were not wearing life jackets when a trawler capsized in a fatal sinking off the coast of Scotland, an investigation has revealed.
Pictures of the men waiting to be rescued on the upturned hull of the Njord have been released in a Marine Accident Investigations Branch (MAIB) report into the tragedy, which resulted in the death of experienced deckhand Ronald MacKinnon, 56, in March 2022.
The probe found modifications to the vessel contributed to it tipping and flooding while trying to process an “unusually large haul of fish”, with none of the crew wearing safety gear and unable to raise an alert when the vessel went down 150 miles north-east of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.
The surviving crew were only rescued because Njord’s emergency beacon floated away and alerted search and rescue teams.
The MAIB said: “Njord’s eight crew abandoned to the vessel’s upturned hull, but none were wearing either a personal flotation device, an immersion suit or carrying a means to raise an alert.
“Fortunately, Njord’s Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon floated free of the wreck and alerted search and rescue authorities, which tasked a helicopter and a nearby vessel to assist.
“The search and rescue helicopter arrived on scene 45 minutes later but Njord sank within minutes of its arrival and all eight crew ended up in the water.
“Neither of Njord’s liferafts surfaced and it is likely that these were trapped on board and then lost their buoyancy.
“Three of the crew were rescued by the SAR helicopter, but one of them drowned despite the efforts of the helicopter’s on board medic.
“The remaining five crew were rescued by the nearby vessel’s fast rescue craft.”
The Njord had left Peterhead, with the intention of returning to the harbour, before getting into difficulty in the North Sea about 100 nautical miles west of Stavanger, Norway.
There had been no radio contact with the stricken 24m vessel, which was previously called Courageous when it worked out of Lerwick in Shetland.
The MAIB investigation found that the weight of catch, which was secured to a trawl winch and acting on a handrail, caused it to tilt to an angle where flooding occurred. A drain valve had been left open in the bulkhead on the vessel’s working deck, which allowed flooding into one of the internal spaces. This resulted in the capsize of the vessel.
The probe heard how the vessel’s skipper tried to cut the net free of the boat to stop the boat from capsizing with a knife before abandoning ship.
He did not have time to make a distress call from the wheelhouse as water levels rose and the battery failed on a hand held radio as soon as the transmit button was pressed.
The report said surviving crew members had “expressed concern” that the rescue helicopter hovered
close to the upturned hull for a “considerable amount of time” – with varying statements suggesting this had been between seven and 20 minutes. But evidence indicated that the actual time was around four minutes.
It said: “Time perception can be altered during traumatic events when the section of the
brain responsible for processing emotions is activated.
“This phenomenon is known as ‘time dilation’ or ‘time distortion’.”
The MAIB investigation determined that modifications made to Njord in 2021, the replacement of vessel weights and the addition of a drain hole, reduced the vessel’s capacity to stay afloat when tipped.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency was not formally notified of these modifications and they were not assessed by a naval architect.
Given existing guidance on vessel modifications and wearing of personal flotation devices no recommendations were made to the industry in the report.
It said: “The combination of a reduced margin of stability due to the modifications and the vessel’s operational conditions during the incident directly contributed to Njord’s capsize.”
Relatives of Mr MacKinnon, known as ‘Noggins’, paid tribute to him at the time, describing him as a “true friend, crew mate, brother, son, father and uncle”.
Pals said the fisherman was a “pure gent” and a “lovely guy”.
Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond. Sign up to our daily newsletter.