Investigation blames vessel instability and safety lapses for Dundalk Bay trawler sinking

A Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) report into the sinking of the fishing vessel Ben Thomas in Dundalk Bay has concluded that the tragedy, which claimed the life of one crewman in December 2023, was likely caused by “the overturning effects of a heavily laden dredge cage as it was being recovered onboard. A contributory factor is likely to have been the vessel’s low level of residual stability at this stage of the fishing operations.”

The incident happened in Dundalk Bay close to Dunany Point.

The Ben Thomas, a 9.68-metre steel fishing vessel operating out of Port Oriel, Clogherhead, capsized and sank on the morning of December 12, 2023, while hauling a dredge cage during razor clam fishing operations north of Dunany Point. Two crew members were on board at the time.

According to the MCIB, both men were working on deck when the vessel suddenly capsized shortly before 8am. Neither was wearing a personal flotation device (PFD). The skipper managed to survive by clinging to debris and later donning a lifejacket that had floated free, but the second crewman tragically drowned. His body was recovered from the seabed two days later by Naval Service divers.

The investigation found that the most probable cause of the capsize was the overturning force created by a heavily laden dredge cage being lifted at height from the vessel’s stern gantry. This operation, combined with the vessel’s low residual stability at that stage of fishing, likely caused the Ben Thomas to heel sharply to port and capsize without warning.

The MCIB noted that lifting heavy gear from a high point can drastically affect a small vessel’s centre of gravity. Once the vessel began to heel, the suspended load may have swung outward, worsening the instability.

The report also highlights a series of safety equipment failures that significantly reduced the crew’s chances of survival.

Although the vessel was fitted with a liferaft, it failed to inflate after being released when the vessel sank. An Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB), designed to automatically transmit a distress signal, did not activate at the time of the incident. Investigators found that the EPIRB’s battery had expired nearly a year earlier. They did However note that “when the EPIRB was recovered on the day after this vessel’s sinking, it was transmitting then, and a subsequent test confirmed that the unit was operational and could transmit a signal under normal operational conditions.”

The Coast Guard’s R116 helicopter arrived approximately 31 minutes after the emergency services were notified of this incident, followed closely by Clogherhead RNLI two minutes later. 

The report remarked that: “However, this was approximately 1.5 hours after this vessel’s capsize. Prompt activation of this vessel’s EPIRB when the capsize occurred would have significantly reduced the length of time the two casualties spent in the water.”

In addition, no Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) were carried by the crew, and the absence of these devices delayed the emergency response, the report found.

The Ben Thomas had recently changed operators, and the crew had only been fishing together for one full day prior to the incident. The investigation found that “no evidence was provided to the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) in relation to vessel induction, familiarisation or drills undertaken on the FV Ben Thomas.”

It further found that: “The Skipper of the FV Ben Thomas was responsible for ensuring that everyone wore a PFD while on deck. This did not happen, which is inexplicable given the plain terms of the statutory instrument and the repeated Marine Notices (MN) that had been issued by the MSO in the years prior to this casualty event.”

The report also found that: “Less than three weeks prior to this marine casualty, the registered owner entered into an arrangement with a third party to operate this vessel. The Skipper of this vessel had only one day of fishing experience on this vessel prior to this marine casualty. 

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“The owner, the owner’s appointed operator, and the Skipper of this vessel missed many opportunities to apply standard safety management procedures to this vessel and crew. The result was a vessel that was not being operated safely, which led to the loss of the vessel, one fatality and one near fatality. Inadequate safety management was a causal factor in this marine casualty.”

The report concluded by making a number of safety recommendations including that the Minister for Transport should undertake a review of “the stability criteria in the Code of Practice for the Design, Construction, Equipment and Operation of Small Fishing Vessels of less than 15 metres length…”