A COLLISION with a naval vessel towing a stricken Castletownbere fishing trawler in March 2021 was not a contributory factor in the trawler’s sinking, a Marine Casualty Investigation Board report said – though the trawler’s owners dispute the findings.
The fishing vessel Ellie Adhamh sunk off Bull Rock in March 2021, hours after its seven-man crew were airlifted to safety.
The owners of Ellie Adhamh and its skipper accused the Marine Casualty Investigation Board report of ‘bias’ and claimed the Marine Casualty Investigation Board for deliberately downplaying a ‘collision’ with the naval ship LE George Bernard Shaw.
But the MCIB’s report said the contact between the Navy vessel and the fishing vessel was ‘not considered to be a causative or contributory factor in the sinking of the vessel’.
The Ellie Adhamh with seven crew onboard was trawl fishing for prawns south of the Porcupine Bank off the West Cork coast.
The trawler suffered an electrical power failure on board and made course for Castletownbere, alongside another vessel.
The accompanying fishing vessel established a tow, but the towline parted shortly thereafter around 55 nautical miles from Castletownbere.
Emergency services were called and a Irish Coast Guard rescue helicopter and the LÉ George Bernard Shaw were called. The LE George Bernard Shaw established a towline to the stricken fishing vessel and commenced towing the fishing vessel to Castletownbere.
The two vessels collided during the tow – though the MCIB report claims the contact was not severe.
In deteriorating conditions the crew was safely airlifted from the trawler and the Ellie Adhamh sank hours later.
The owners of the Ellie Adhamh, R&E Fish Ltd from Wexford, believe the collision contact between the vessel and the Navy was a major reason for the sinking, noting the Ellie Adhamh had continued to make its way towards the coast – without power – for more than 100 miles, before the sinking.
‘The Owner and the Skipper have also criticized the MCIB for deliberately downplaying the “collision” due to bias on its part.
This is not accepted,’ says the MCIB report.
‘The MCIB are satisfied that the record of events and the causes identified for the very serious incident that put the lives of the crew, and those of the responders at risk, with the total loss of a valuable fishing vessel, speak for themselves.’
The MCIB report notes that by the time the crew were airlifted from the vessel, the incident had been running for 48 hours, and ‘for the last 24 hours of the incident the fishing vessel was a “dead ship” without any electrical power’.
‘After 24 hours the crew fatigue (lack of sleep and food) would have impacted on their ability to assist themselves and the decision to remove the crew for the safety of life at sea was justified and probably should have been taken much earlier given the weather conditions,’ the MCIB report said.
The MCIB report published last week found a combination of factors led to the sinking, including the weather and sea conditions, electrical failure and electrical design failings, inadequate crew emergency training knowledge and training in emergency procedures, and the defective condition of an overboard waste discharge chute and the design of the chute cover combined with the design and stability characteristics which led to water ingress.
In September 2023, the owners of the vessel R&E Fish Ltd pleaded guilty at Bantry District Court to setting sail from Castletownbere Fishery Harbour Centre on March 13th, 2021 without a person holding a certificate of competency.
The skipper of the vessel had completed all his exams and studies to get his cert of competency, but due to Covid he was unable to complete a year probation on another vessel at the time the incident took place.
