FAI into creel fisherman’s death off Wick to call master and mate for evidence

Arrangements were finalised on Tuesday for a fatal accident inquiry into the death of a west African creel fisherman off north-east Caithness.

It is to be held at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on February 9 and 10 next year in front of Sheriff Robert McDonald.

Richard Fiati drowned after being accidentally dragged overboard a creelboat last summer.

The 40-year-old deckhand was among six aboard the Kingfisher which had left Stromness on the evening of July 8 last year.

The tragedy occurred on the afternoon of July 12 as he shot strings of creels in a water depth of about 50 metres, 30 nautical miles east-north-east of Wick.

According to the Marine Accident Investigation Board (MAIB) report into the tragedy, the Ghanaian accidentally threaded a toggle of one of the creels through both the connecting leg rope and the becket hanging loose from his lifejacket, which he wore over his oilskins.

Alerted by a scream, the rest of the crew watched helplessly as Mr Fiati was quickly dragged overboard by the leg rope, which was attached to the fishing gear.

The report stated: “In the wheelhouse, the skipper became aware of the man overboard and immediately set Kingfisher’s propulsion to full astern and the rudder to starboard.

“The deckhand’s lifejacket had inflated and the crew could initially see him with his hands aloft and waving but he disappeared underwater within seconds.”

The skipper acted to heave in the creels and recovered the deckhand within seven minutes of him entering the water.

Efforts immediately began to resuscitate him but they proved fruitless.

Thurso lifeboat crew, the coastguard rescue helicopter from Sumburgh and a wind farm guard vessel, equipped with a defibrillator, responded to a Mayday call.

The helicopter lowered two paramedics onto the deck of the 18-metre-long Dartmouth-registered crabber. They found Mr Fiati dead.

While his lifejacket inflated, the report, issued in September this year, noted it did not give enough buoyancy to counter the weight of the submerged creels.

It concluded the accident had been caused by a fatal lapse of concentration on his part.

The becket on the lifebelt is designed to help rescuers pull a casualty from the water.

A qualified deckhand, this was Mr Fiati’s third stint on the Kingfisher, having joined it in Fraserburgh on June 25 last year on the fateful trip.

The owners of the vessel, Devon-based Browse Brothers Fisheries Ltd, has already acted to change the type of personal flotation devices issued to the crew and to update its risk assessments.

Meanwhile, Seago Yachting Ltd, which made the flotation device, has increased the length of the becket and added a new Velcro tab to prevent it working loose, an option which can be retrofitted.

At Tuesday’s preliminary hearing in Kirkwall before Sheriff McDonald, senior fiscal depute David Glancy said he intended to call the master and mate of the Kingfisher, both UK nationals, and MAIB inspector Howard Flegg, who wrote the report, as witnesses.

He said he was content to rely on the detailed written statements provided by the other surviving crew, two Filipinos and one from Ghana.

Mr Glancy said: “I’m obviously mindful of the trauma that may be revisited if they were called on to go back over the events of that day.”

Mr Flegg is to give his evidence remotely from his base in Southampton.

Both Browse Brothers Fisheries Ltd and Seago Yachting Ltd are represented at the inquiry though neither intends having witnesses.

A further preliminary hearing is scheduled for December 16.