Contact by stern trawler Shalimar with quay and subsequent sinking of vessel

Location: Scrabster Harbour, Scotland.

From:
Marine Accident Investigation Branch
Published
23 January 2015
Vessel type:
Fishing vessel
Report type:
Investigation report
Date of occurrence:
30 April 2014

Accident Investigation Report 27/2014

Investigation report into marine accident including what happened and safety lessons:

Shalimar.pdf (5,632.04 kb)

Shalimar

Summary

At 2127 BST on 30 April 2014, the United Kingdom registered trawler Shalimar made heavy contact with the quay wall when shifting berths in Scrabster, Scotland. The vessel’s wooden stern was severely damaged and the hull flooded rapidly. Shalimar sank at 2150. The vessel was re-floated 12 days later but it was beyond economical repair.

Safety lessons

  • a retaining bracket used to secure the morse cable had been secured with only one screw, which had loosened over time

  • the main engine could only be started and stopped from inside the engine room

  • the rate of flooding exceeded the capacity of the vessel’s pumps

  • the vessel was not fitted with watertight bulkheads

Recommendations

If Shalimar had been built today, the current construction standards applicable to wooden fishing vessels would have significantly increased the vessel’s survivability. Consequently, no recommendations have been made.

Published: 8 October 2014

Updates to this page

Published 23 January 2015
Contents

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