Two fishermen from Mayo who spent 12 hours at sea off the north Mayo coast after their boat capsized were not assisted after they released flares; nor did the emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB ) assist them, a report by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board has found.
The report which, was issued on Wednesday, outlined that on Saturday October 30 2010, the 33 metre crabber Léim an Bhradán set off from Porturlin, Ballina, at 7.30am on a routine fishing trip to lift, empty, and reset crab and lobster pots, approximately 12 to 15 miles north of Porturlin.
Skipper John O’Donnell, who was 18 at the time, and crew member Nathan Flannery, who was in his 20s, were both young men, however they had many years’ experience between them.
Sometime between 1pm and 1.45pm, while trying to haul and reshot a second load of pots, a large wave (of about five metres ) broke over the starboard side and flooded the working deck. This caused the vessel to list further to starboard — it was already listing slightly starboard due to the pots being hauled on that side. The wave also caused the pots and boxes to slide to the starboard side, increasing the angle of the list.
Both men, who were wearing lifejackets, were thrown into the water. “There was no time to retrieve the EPIRB or handheld VHF radio set from the wheelhouse, or any of their belongings (including mobile phones ), or to activate the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS ),” the report stated. The vessel then capsized and sank after approximately five minutes, 12 miles from Porturlin.
The life raft canister, which was not secured to the boat but to a cradle on top of the wheelhouse, floated to the surface along with a life ring. However the men had trouble inflating their life raft, but managed to inflate the raft after they cut the canister securing straps with a key. The men were then able to climb aboard the life raft at approximately 2pm.
Once on the life raft the men opened a SOLAS B equipment pack, which was stored on the raft, and set off a red parachute flare. Twenty minutes later they set off a second flare, however there were no other vessels in the area.
On spotting a Coast Guard helicopter around 3pm, an orange smoke signal was released, however it was not spotted by the helicopter. It transpired that this Sligo-based helicopter was on a training exercise in the area at the time.
By 5.30pm darkness had fallen and the men placed on thermal protective suits to protect themselves from the cold. Back onshore local fisherman Caden O’Donnell and others tried to contact the boat as it had not returned. By 11pm volunteer members of the Ballyglass Lifeboat met with Caden O’Donnell, and at 11.25pm Malin Coast Guard received a report that the boat was overdue and was not contactable.
The lifeboat was deployed at 11.47pm and a rescue helicopter at 11.54pm. The two men were located at 1.36am, transferred to the lifeboat at 1.55am, and arrived back at Ballyglass at 3.15am.
The MCIB report found that “had the liferaft been secured to the vessel and had the men been in a position to pull the painter with sufficient force, the liferaft inflation valve would have operated correctly and the raft would have inflated immediately and fully as designed to do.”
A handheld VHF radio was also not on either man’s person while working on deck, which would have enabled them “to call for help and communicate with other vessels”.
The report also found that as the emergency beacon was located in the wheelhouse of the vessel it therefore provided no assistance, but “if the EPIRB had been mounted to a free float bracket on the outside of the wheelhouse it too would have floated to the surface and automatically activated when the vessel sank, thus alerting the Coast Guard to the incident and allowing them to pinpoint the location of the vessel immediately.”
Neither men received injuries in their ordeal.
