Fire and sinking of twin-rig prawn trawler Karinya

Location: Moray Firth, Scotland.

• From: Marine Accident Investigation Branch
• Published: 14 April 2016

• Vessel type: Fishing vessel
• Report type: Investigation report
• Date of occurrence: 4 October 2015

Accident Investigation Report 7/2016

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

MAIB investigation report 7-2016: Karinya

Summary

On 4 October 2015 the twin-rig prawn trawler Karinya (FR 699) suffered a fire and foundered in the Moray Firth, Scotland. All crew were safely rescued from a liferaft by another fishing vessel. There was no resulting pollution. Karinya later sank.

Safety lessons

• it is possible that a poorly discarded cigarette end that was not fully extinguished fell or was blown down the internal stairway and through the open cabin door
• the fire alarm did not provide the intended early notification of a fire as it could not be heard from the winch control position aft of the wheelhouse
• lifejackets must be stored where they are readily accessible in an emergency
• the rapid and controlled abandonment of Karinya demonstrates the benefit of conducting regular emergency drills

Recommendations

Appropriate published guidance already covers many of the identified safety issues, which are reiterated in the our safety flyer accompanying this report. Therefore no further recommendations have been made as a result of this investigation.

Related Publications

A safety flyer highlighting a number of the safety issues was produced for this report.

Published 14 April 2016