Inquiry: Capsized trawler ‘unstable’

THE deaths of two fishermen who drowned after their boat sank off the west coast could have been avoided had the boat not been “intrinsically unstable”, a sheriff has ruled.

Przemyslaw Krawczyk and Duncan MacDougall both died when the fishing boat they were working on, the Nancy Glen, capsized and sank in Loch Fyne on January 18 2018.

The loss of the prawn trawler happened on its final trawl of the day near her home port of Tarbert and just over a mile north-east of Barmore Island.

Skipper Mr MacDougall, 46, and crewman Mr Krawczyk, 38, both fathers and husbands who lived in Tarbert, were trapped on board and drowned when the trawler sank.

A third fisherman, John Miller, raised the alarm and was the sole survivor after he was pulled from the water by the crew of a passing boat.

Now a fatal accident inquiry into the double fatality has found both men drowned as a result of the unstable ship capsizing and sinking after the “muddying” of the vessel’s trawl gear on the seafloor.

Sheriff Patrick Hughes, who presided over the inquiry held at Oban Sheriff Court earlier this year, said the tragedy could have been avoided if expert advice had been sought before alterations were made to the boat, which in turn left it “intrinsically unstable”.

The sheriff ruled: “The evidence showed the MacDougalls to have been responsible owners who kept the vessel well maintained – with the benefit of hindsight, it was accepted that the various modifications made to the vessel, particularly those in December 2017, had reduced its stability.”

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch found the fishing boat sank because a new crane on deck made it so unstable it couldn’t cope with its net filling with mud as it turned.

The Nancy Glen fishing trawler sits on a barge on Loch Fyne at Tarbert, its home port, after being recovered.