Skipper Prosecuted for Fishing Vessel Collision

A skipper of fishing vessel Saphire Stone was charged following a collision with another fishing vessel Karen causing its loss. The skipper, Malcolm Edmund, pleaded guilty to charges including failing to keep a proper lookout and has been fined more than £5,000, the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) reported.

On January 22, 2014, fishing vessel Karen was coming to the end of a four-hour tow to the southeast of the Island of Arran, when she was struck astern by the Saphire Stone, bound for Campbeltown.

Skipper of the Karen, John Muir, said she went down by the stern so quickly that the crew did not have time to put on lifejackets. The crew managed to launch a life raft, but choppy seas forced it to overturn, and all three found themselves in the water. Muir righted the raft and they all got in. Saphire Stone managed to get alongside the raft and recovered all the men safely onboard, then continuing to Campbeltown where they were met by the emergency services. 

During MCA’s investigation, it transpired that one of the crew employed onboard the Saphire Stone had not completed the required safety training courses and that Edmundhad been issued with an improvement notice the previous September for a similar offence.

Today, June 8, at Newtonards Magistrates Court, Edmund pleaded guilty to three charges: failing to keep a proper lookout, causing the loss of the fishing vessel Karen and breaching the Fishing Vessel Safety Training Regulations. 

The judge, Mark Hamil, said that the case came down to Edmund not looking where he was going, and fined him a total of £5,500.