Research and analysis

Safety flyer to the fishing industry - Sunbeam

Published 10 December 2020

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safety-lessons-understanding-the-hazards-of-enclosed-spaces-on-fishing-vessels/safety-flyer-to-the-fishing-industry-sunbeam

1. Summary

Fatal enclosed space accident, on board the pelagic trawler Sunbeam on 14 August 2018

2. Narrative

During the afternoon of 14 August 2018, a second engineer working on board the pelagic trawler Sunbeam was found collapsed inside a refrigerated salt water (RSW) tank. Sunbeam was in Fraserburgh and the crew were preparing for a refit; the evidence suggested that the second engineer had entered the RSW tank to sweep away residual water.

When the second engineer was found, other members of the crew rushed to his aid, including three others who entered the tank, one of whom also collapsed. The crew members in the tank were rescued by Sunbeam’s mates, who were wearing breathing apparatus; only three of the four crew who entered the tank survived.

3. Safety Lessons

  1. Sunbeam’s RSW tanks were enclosed spaces because they had limited openings, no ventilation and were not intended for continual worker occupation. The accident happened because the second engineer entered the tank without any of the safety precautions normally associated with such a hazard being in place, specifically: the atmosphere was not monitored, there was no plan for the work or a rescue, and the second engineer was working alone without means of communication.

  2. Entering Sunbeam’s RSW tanks without safety precautions having been implemented had become normalised by the crew as this had been completed without consequence over many years of the vessel’s operations. However, on this occasion the atmosphere could not support life as refrigerant gas (Freon in this case) had leaked into the space through failed evaporator tubes in one of the vessel’s refrigeration plants.

  3. While a leak of refrigerant gas might have been less foreseeable than hazards such as oxygen depletion from corrosion or hydrogen sulphide from rotting fish, it simply serves to underpin the critical need for atmosphere monitoring in enclosed spaces.

  4. All work activities should be subject to risk assessment and safe systems of work. Working in enclosed spaces is particularly hazardous, and procedures for entering and working in them should be robust and understood. Similarly, rescue plans need to be put in place and rehearsed.

Our accident investigation report is available at: https://www.gov.uk/maib-reports/entry-to-enclosed-space-on-fishing-vessel-sunbeam-with-loss-of-1-life.

Marine Accident Investigation Branch

First Floor, Spring Place
105 Commercial Road
Southampton
SO15 1GH

Email [email protected]

Enquiries during office hours +44 (0)23 8039 5500

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