Man drowned in North Sea after becoming entangled in rope and pulled overboard

A crew member working on a fishing vessel in the North Sea died after becoming entangled in rope and being pulled overboard, an investigation has found.

The deckhand was on board the Kingfisher, which was manually shooting a string of creels off the coast of Wick on July 12, when the incident happened.

The man became trapped in a creel leg rope and was dragged into the water.

The vessel’s crew was able to use a hauling winch to get hold of the backrope and pull the deckhand, who was submerged, back onboard within seven minutes of him entering the water.

Despite the best efforts of the crew, lifeboat teams, a paramedic from the Coastguard rescue helicopter, and crew members of a wind farm guard vessel, the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

A report issued by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch found that the deckhand had unknowingly threaded the reel toggle through his lifejacket’s safety loop.

It outlined: “A deckhand became entangled in a creel’s leg rope and was pulled overboard, where his personal flotation device (PFD) inflated on immersion.

“Using the hauling winch, Kingfisher’s crew retrieved the backrope and recovered the now submerged deckhand on board within seven minutes.

“Despite the efforts, the deckhand could not be revived and was declared deceased.”

A review of the man’s death found that the safety loop was a “snagging hazard” that hadn’t been identified beforehand and that an onboard risk assessment hadn’t identified that the lifejacket was unsuitable for the work being carried out.

A recommendation was made for the owners and crew of creel fishing boats to review their deck working assessments.