Charging electronic device likely the cause of fire that sank trawler off Cork coast

A faulty smoke detector on the FV Horizon also allowed the fire to burn for a significant time period before the crew became aware of it

The FV Horizon, which sank off the Cork coast in May 2021. Picture: MCIB

An unattended electronic device being charged has been cited as the potential cause of fire that sank a fishing vessel off the Cork coast last year.

The FV Horizon, an Irish-registered fishing trawler, sank about 20 nautical miles off the Old Head of Kinsale on the morning of Thursday, May 14, 2021.

According to the incident report from the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB), the boat's skipper noticed a significant amount of smoke around the accommodation cabin door in the galley area at about 1.30am on the night in question.

Grabbing a fire extinguisher, he descended down into the galley area to investigate the source of the blaze, but, according to MCIB, it had intensified to such an extent that it was "beyond the ability of the crew to extinguish" with the equipment they had on board.

Despite the four-man crew's best efforts, the skipper made the decision to abandon ship via a life raft shortly after 1.50am. The four were picked up by the Courtmacsherry RNLI Lifeboat shortly before 2.30am, with none of them requiring medical assistance.

The boat was fishing about 20 nautical miles off the Old Head of Kinsale when the fire broke out. File Picture Andy Gibson.

The MCIB's report says it can be "reasonably deduced" that an unattended mobile phone or another similar electronic device in the process of being charged and/or an electronic device battery charger plugged into a 240V AC circuit in the crew accommodation cabin "may have been the source of ignition for this fire and was a causative factor for the fire onboard the vessel."

While the 17.48-metre ship itself was deemed to be "materially fit for purpose", the MCIB did note that a smoke detector in the accommodation cabin "failed to operate" meaning the fire had "taken hold" and spread for a significant amount of time before the skipper became aware of it.

The report also found that combustible materials, "particularly the amounts of LPG, oils and plastic onboard" provided "adequate fuel for the fire" and contributed to the FV Horizon's sinking.

Furthermore, the MCIB investigators noted that, because the boat was in use before 2007 - the year in which more stringent fire safety codes were introduced - it was required to only contain an audible fault signal smoke detector alarm, as opposed to a system with both audible and visual signals.

To safeguard against similar incidents happening in the future, the MCIB has urged Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to issue a pair of Marine Notices reminding owners, skippers, officers, and crewmembers of fishing vessels of the requirements around safety training and the maintaining of fire detection systems.