Fishing boat safety is decades out of date

Safety regulations for Jersey-registered fishing boats is 30 years out of date.

A Marine Accident Investigation Branch report into the sinking of Jersey-registered fishing boat Kerloch which sank off the Welsh coast last February highlights how far behind Jersey is compared with the UK and EU.

The boat sank after striking a rock while everyone on board - including the skipper who was on watch - was asleep. They all managed to escape.

The following are extracts from the MAIB report:-

The safety legislation for Jersey-registered fishing vessels lags behind the equivalent EU and UK regulations by nearly 30 years, with key modern safety concepts such as risk assessments and safety awareness training currently not required.

The principal fishing safety regulation in Jersey, the Shipping (Fishing Vessels Safety Provisions)(Jersey) Order 2004 was based on the UK's Fishing Vessels (Safety Provisions) Rules 1975, but has not been further updated beyond the 1980s.

A recommendation has been made to the States of Jersey to expedite the current update of the regulatory framework applicable to Jersey -registered fishing vessels.

As Kerloch was a Jersey-registered fishing vessel, the crew were not required to comply with The Fishing Vessels (Working Time: Sea-fishermen)Regulations 2004 for UK fishing vessels. Had the periods of rest taken by the crew prior to the accident complied with these regulations, then the likelihood of fatigue leading to the vessel's loss would have been significantly reduced.

Problems also existed with the crew's safety training certification. The skipper did not hold certificates for courses that it is reported he had completed, and one of the deckhands, although new to fishing, had not undergone any safety training. None of the crew had completed the Seafish Safety Awareness course, required in the UK but not in Jersey.

Although the crew were able to safely abandon, various examples of unsafe practice were evident, highlighting not only the importance of emergency preparedness, but also again the need for training.

The boat, skippered by a Guernseyman, was owned by a Jerseyman living in Alderney and managed by his brother-in-law living in Jersey. The manager had not been aboard the vessel for at least eight years and the boat had not visited Jersey since 2002.



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