Safety at sea - Cruel tragedy

Every fishing community is far more familiar with tragedy at sea than it would wish to be.

Every time fishermen’s lives are lost hearts are broken and families are sundered, communities are united and shaken at the same time. The Tit Bonhomme tragedy in January of last year, in which five lives were lost, was another in a long litany of reminders of how very high the stakes are for those who work on the sea.

The Marine Casualty Investigation Board report on the tragedy was published yesterday and it suggests that exhaustion played a role. It suggests the men aboard had, at most, four or five hours’ sleep in the 40 hours leading up to their vessel’s sinking. Legally, the maximum working hours on fishing vessels is 14 hours in any 24-hour period and 72 in any seven-day period so the threat of exhaustion has been recognised in legislation. As this tragedy so cruelly demonstrates these laws exist for a reason and it may be reckless to ignore them.