THE INDEPENDENT investigation into the deaths of two east coast fishermen in April 2011 has been unable to determine the precise cause of the incident.
The Marine Casualty Investigation Board says neither Ronan Browne (26) nor David Gilsenan (41) had time to react, find emergency equipment or stay with their vessel after it capsized.
The men were last seen leaving to tend lobster pots off the Colt Island/St Patrick’s Island area of Skerries, Co Dublin, on April 1st; their bodies were found on April 9th. Both were qualified marine engineers and experienced fishermen. Mr Browne lived with his wife, Linda, in Skerries, and Mr Gilsenan lived in nearby Rush with his wife Suzanne and two children.
Weather conditions deteriorated as they left the harbour, the report says, with a forecast for southerly winds of force five to seven, gusting to gale force eight.
There could have been a malfunction of equipment on board the Lady Linda, it says, such as the pot hauler exerting excessive or intermittent load, causing the boat to “list excessively to starboard”.
Neither man was wearing a personal flotation device or lifejacket. It says emergency equipment was stored in the forward watertight compartment under the deck, which did not allow for easy access.
The board recommends lifejackets be worn on deck at all times, weather forecasts be checked, and says the Minister for Transport should consider revised stability criteria for small-decked vessels.
Met Éireann has said in relation to a fatal incident on Lough Corrib earlier this week that its small craft warning covers waters up to 10 nautical miles offshore, but does not apply to lakes or any other inland waterways. It issues twice daily forecasts for inland lakes on met.ie, and these are broadcast by the Irish Coast Guard on its marine VHF radio network.
