Life raft failure on a Stornoway-registered boat led to the death of a Caithness fisherman
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A fatal accident inquiry into the deaths of three fishermen – including Martin Johnstone from Thurso – has failed to identify the cause of flooding which led to the sinking of their boat off the Western Isles.
Mr Johnstone (29), died along with crew member Chris Morrison (27), from Stornoway, and skipper Paul Alliston (42), of Lewis, when the crab boat MFV Louisa sank in the tidal waters of Mingulay Bay, during the early hours of April 9, 2016. A fourth crew member, Lachlan Armstrong, from Stornoway, was the only one to survive – he managed to swim to safety.
Mr Johnstone, a former paratrooper, had been living in Halkirk at the time and had only started working on board the Stornoway-registered Louisa the month before the accident happened. He had previously worked on the Scrabster-based fishing boat Kingfisher, skippered by Neil Giles.
Paying tribute to the local fisherman after the tragedy, Mr Giles described him as one of the best crew members he had ever worked with and said his death had come as a massive shock.
"As far as being a fisherman was concerned, they don’t make them like Martin any more," he said. "He worked on and off with me for about
10 years.
"Martin was one of the best deckhands you could have asked for and one of the best I had ever worked with. He was also a very good
friend – there was nobody that had a bad word to say about Martin."
The crew had been sleeping on the boat when they woke suddenly to discover the vessel was starting to sink. The bow was fully submerged and water was gaining entry through the wheelhouse windows.
A report made by Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle stated that the direct cause of the deaths of the three fishermen was the failure of the life raft to inflate, plus the life jackets failed to keep them in a position where they could maintain an airway if they were unconscious or incapacitated.
Mr Johnstone decided to swim to shore after the life raft did not inflate. Shortly after the remaining crew realised the raft was drifting out to sea, so Mr Armstrong also decided to swim to shore, while the remaining crew stayed.
An emergency alert from the vessel was detected but some time was lost in confirming the exact location of the Louisa. Once the location was found the Barra lifeboat was launched in seven minutes.
The skipper and Mr Morrison were found unresponsive near the uninflated life raft, while Mr Johnstone's body was recovered 50 metres from the shore. Mr Armstrong was rescued from nearby rocks by a search and rescue helicopter.
Immediately after the incident the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) began their inquiries, which included salvaging the wreck and a full inspection of it was made by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).
In conclusion, Sheriff Pyle said: "It will remain a disappointment, particularly for the families of the deceased and Lachlan Armstrong, that it has not proved possible to identify a cause of the flooding which caused the foundering of the Louisa, despite the extensive efforts of the MAIB
and the Crown, both of which acted with proper dispatch."
Related article: Caithness fisherman dies in Western Isles boat tragedy
