MAIB: Open Drain Caused Deadly Capsizing in North Sea

MAIB has published its final accident investigation report into the capsizing and foundering of stern trawler Njord, which went down about 50 nautical miles north-east of Peterhead, Scotland in 2022. MAIB found that post-construction modifications had reduced the vessel’s initial stability, and that a large haul of fish was enough to capsize the vessel. 

On March 5, 2022, the 27-meter Njord departed Peterhead to fish in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, with a crew of eight on board. In the early hours of the following morning, Njord arrived at a position about 130 nautical miles north-east of Peterhead and put out its fishing net over a gas pipeline from the Sleipner A gas platform. The vessel towed its net along the pipeline until 1100, when the net was hauled in. The catch was the largest the crew had ever seen, the equivalent of roughly 30 tonnes of fish. 

Njord was a 1992-built trawler with a setup not commonly found in high-seas fisheries. Her net reels were at the stern, but recovery of the catch occurred on the starboard bow. The cod end had to be hauled up over the starboard rail using a winch and lifting frame, and then the fish were fed into a hatch in the foredeck for processing. 

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