Concern grows over safety of fishing boats

Published on Sunday 23 November 2003 00:00

THOUSANDS of Scottish fishermen are regularly going to sea in boats with potentially lethal safety defects, a disturbing new study has suggested.

Poor maintenance means more than half of Scotland’s fishing fleet has serious faults with under-deck plumbing that could result in catastrophic flooding and vessels sinking in minutes.

The expert survey was commissioned by the industry amid growing concern over the number of boats lost in calm weather. At least five Scottish vessels have sunk in the past four years - two in the past month alone - with defective pipework suspected.

The researchers from Strathclyde University and Banff and Buchan College also found cases where bilge alarms were not working properly. A faulty bilge alarm was one of the contributory causes of the sinking of the Scottish scallop dredger Solway Harvester with the loss of seven lives three years ago.

The researchers claim pressures on fishermen to work their boats harder to make a living could be leading to inadequate maintenance checks. They are calling for safety inspections to be increased.

Lead researcher Bill West, a lecturer at the college, said: "We were very concerned about what we found because if these defects remain undetected then they could lead to loss of life.

"In the 1960s we used to lose boats because of bad weather. Now we are losing more and more in calm weather situations even though boats and equipment are better, so something appears to have changed."

Unexpected flooding is now one of the biggest causes of fishing boat sinkings, according to government figures, with losses amounting to around 15m a year.

The researchers carried out safety investigations on 40 boats as a representative sample of vessels more than 40ft long in the UK fishing fleet from Shetland to Cornwall. The age of the boats ranged from one year to more than 40.

Fishermen’s leaders said the report underlined the need for better safety and maintenance training for skippers and crews.