3 Drowned, 1 Survived clinging to hull all night, How does it happen?

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Three Fishermen perished in The English Channel 11 miles off Beach Head. The son of Skipper, one of those that perished, a 19yr old boy, was spotted clinging to the hull yesterday morning after being in the water all night.

How on earth does this happen with todays technology? surely an overturned boat should be able to automatically send out a distress message via an EPIRB, so is an EPIRB a valuable life saving tool, I guess it's too late to ask that skipper, and of course at this time we don't know if in gfact he did or did not have one, but the fact that his son was left clinging to the wreck all night after it overturned at 5pm and was spotted at 8.30am the following morning does give cause for concern.

The Air search and rescue took 5hrs and the other three bodies were recovered.

Apparently the Belgian registered boat snagged it's nets and overturned in the busy shipping lane, things must have happened so quickly, and as for not being spotted in a busy shipping lane for 15hrs, what hope do you have in a quieter area /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Very sad indeed.
 
Well, if the boat capsized at 5 p.m., it would have done so in the twilight, and I think it would be very difficult to see an upturned hull in the dark. The boat seems to have been spotted as soon as it was light.

The EPIRB may have failed to operate - this is apparently not unknown - and she may have rolled over very suddenly.

A sad business.
 
Actually 2 of the 3 bodies were recovered - 1 still missing at close of search. Believe also the survior was the Skipper's newphew.

Would/should have had hydrostatic releases on the rafts and epirb but as she still afloat upside down maybe they didnt go deep enough to trigger or the rafts were trapped in the deck gear?

Maybe those who posted about not needing a liferaft for coastal cruising in the South might like to reconsider now? This was 11 miles off the coast at the end of one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes...

RIP /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

PW.
 
Given the right conditions, the speed at which these boats (and indeed, any vessel) capsizes can be very frightening. You wouldn't have time to know what was happening, or launch rafts. It's possible it rolled so fast the rafts are inflated and trpped underneath.
 
I think the depth of immersion will have been sufficient for the hydrostatic releases to have operated; they are pretty sensitive. Go for a swim in your Hammar lifejacket, if you fancy an experiment...

But I agree that the EPIRB and liferafts may well have been trapped.
 
The depth for hydo-static releases is 1.5m AFAIK

If the boat goes down, be sure to be the one holding onto the EPIRB!
 
It is very scary. I have a full complement of safety equipment on my boat, but if it rolled over suddenly I couldn't call anybody on the main VHF and maybe couldn't grab the bag with the hand held, the liferaft is strapped down so would it inflate? The EPIRB may not go under so may not operate. I've always worked on the basis that I'd at least have a few minutes to call a Mayday, grab the necessary equipment, and launch the liferaft, but it appears these poor souls did not.
 
Perhaps it would be a good idea to re-asses the location of your emergency equipment with a fast sinking in mind?
 
The RNLI CPRS would have initiated a rescue in this case. It causes the alarm to be raised along with gps info when the power supply to it fails. As a fishing vessel I am not allowed to strap my liferaft down, and if I have a hydro it must be in date. I sometimes think that you need to admit that things are going wrong and shout before it gets too desperate, but God only knows what happened here.
In another thread someone asked where is the best chippy between Plymouth and Scilly. Perhaps it is the RNMDSF in Newlyn:- you'll get a huge meal for two quid, and put money in a good place.
 
[ QUOTE ]
"3 Drowned, 1 Survived clinging to hull all night, How does it happen? "

FISHERMEN!

JJTOP

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry but that is SICK! 3 families have lost their fathers, sons, brothers 12 days before Christmas.

Next time it might be you or someone you love.

PW
 
as you I read it that way too DV. If I hadn't I would be standing alongside PW.

commercial fishing would seem to be about cutting corners; whether they be safety, catch regulation or whatever. The skipper will have had detailed information about the area they were trawling but will have gone as close to the wreck, or other hazard, as he deemed appropriate. If it was a new hazard then I apologise but generally good fishing and risk go hand in hand - with modern electronics the only change is that the risk is better known.

Those watching the crab fishing on Discovery, or with an understanding of the swordfishing boats, are only looking at extreme examples of everyday commercial fishing activity for many.
 
How many of you trade in stocks and shares, or run businesses, small or otherwise. Your investments start to decline, how long do you hang on in there? When do you admit that the excrement has met the Vent-Axia, and it's time to go? You've been doing this for years, surely it will turn around. So with fishing, either as a business, and it's financial viability, or as an increasingly dangerous situation, when a decision has to be made to 'cut and run'. sometimes you just hang on to that hitched gear. People don't go fishing for profit, they go fishing because they are fishermen, and if times are hard, well, hard times breed hard men. Working fishing gear is just like driving a car, or manipulating the money markets, day by day. We're all taking a chance. It's just that the consequences can be a bit various.
 
Some do understand and have empathy.

press button lose £2000 in nets, don't press button lose life.
I did deep sea Fishing once .Learning a lesson that you guy's don't get paid enough... Lets Please all show respect and decorum to these people who've lost their lives

cheers Joe
 
Fisherman, you've said it for me. Most of the sentimental stuff previously posted has come from people who I suspect have never been offshore. Who, apart from a pension fund have never taken a personal risk in their working lives. I certainly regret the deaths of these seafarers but not their fortitude.
JJTOP
 
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