Golden Promise (OB 898), was a 19m UK- registered scallop dredger, owned and operated by John MacAlister (Oban) Ltd. The owner operated a fleet of five scallop dredgers, with an associated company, The Star Trawler Co Ltd, operating a further two scallop dredgers. Golden Promise was built in 1997 and was used to dredge for scallops around the coastline of Scotland, landing her catch every 3 or 4 days.
Golden Promise was manned by a crew of five, comprising a skipper, mate and three deckhands. All were share fishermen and United Kingdom nationals. At the time of the accident, the vessel’s ‘relief skipper’ was acting as skipper. He was aged 51, with 31 years’ fishing experience, the last 5 years of which had been spent as skipper on one or another of the owner’s vessels. He had started the ‘relief skipper’ role 2 months before the accident. This entailed being the skipper of Ròis Mhàiri, for 4 days, followed by 10 days on Golden Promise, and then taking 2 weeks leave. He had obtained a Deck Officer Certificate of Competency (Fishing Vessel) Class 2 in 1995, but had not completed the mandatory Seafish3 safety awareness training course.
The other crew generally worked on board for 2 weeks, followed by 1 to 2 weeks leave. The mate, who was the skipper’s son, did not hold a navigational qualification. He had 14 years’ fishing experience and shared the navigational watches with the skipper. One of the deckhands also occasionally took watches. He had 9 years’ fishing experience and had completed a Seafish 5-day bridge watchkeeping course. Of the other two deckhands, one had not attended the mandatory safety awareness course, and the other had not attended the basic first-aid course.
The skipper and mate each worked a daily routine of 16 hours on duty, followed by 8 hours rest. The skipper normally worked from 1000 to 0200; the mate normally worked from 0200 to 1800. The deckhands worked a daily routine of 19 hours followed by staggered 5-hour rest periods. The typical duration of a tow was between 11⁄4 and 11⁄2 hours; having recovered and deployed the fishing gear following a tow, the deckhands spent up to a further 20 minutes on deck dealing with the catch and were then able to rest before recovering the gear again.
On 30 August 2011, Golden Promise’s relief skipper joined the vessel, which the following day began dredging for scallops to the north-west of Loch Eriboll, off the north coast of Scotland.
On 2 September, Golden Promise’s catch was landed at Scrabster, and the vessel then returned to the fishing grounds. Later that day, one of the derricks sustained minor damage and, on 5 September, a cooling water pipe burst on one of the auxiliary engines, but these defects were not sufficient to warrant a suspension of her fishing operations.
At 0200 on 6 September, the mate came on watch after his scheduled 8 hours rest and relieved the skipper. The skipper reported sleeping well during his rest period and he returned on duty at 1020.
At 1645, the skipper started to steam the vessel back into Scrabster to land her catch. The mate, assisted by the deckhands, carried out some maintenance and removed the damaged derrick. He then went to the engine room to undertake routine checks and continue to clean up following the burst pipe incident, before retiring to bed at 2000, 2 hours later than usual. During the passage to Scrabster, the qualified deckhand took over the navigational watch for a short period while the skipper showered; the other deckhands were off duty.
At 2045, the mate came back on duty as Golden Promise approached Scrabster, and at 2115 the vessel was manoeuvred alongside. There was a delay in landing the catch due to the unavailability of pallets and because the lorry collecting the catch had not arrived, so the crew began to fit a replacement derrick and undertake further maintenance. They then landed the catch, and embarked provisions.
The forecast was for westerly to north-westerly winds of up to force 7, which the skipper considered would preclude fishing at the previous grounds due to the swell. Having consulted with the skipper of Ròis Mhàiri, which had been fishing in the same area, he decided to head east through the Pentland Firth, then to the south of Wick, where he hoped the fishing grounds would be more sheltered. To take advantage of the next predicted easterly tidal flow in the firth, the skipper decided to depart early that morning. Ròis Mhàiri remained in Scrabster; her skipper hoped the weather would not be as bad as had been forecast, and intended to return to the previous grounds when conditions allowed.
At around 0145 on 7 September, the skipper returned from his visit to Ròis Mhàiri and relayed the plan to the crew. Although the skipper was nearing the end of his normal work period, he perceived that the mate was tired; the mate had been up for 24 hours with only a brief rest. He therefore decided to navigate the vessel through the Pentland Firth himself to allow the mate some time to rest.
At 0200, the mate went to bed and, at 0230, Golden Promise departed Scrabster. At 0245, the deckhands went to bed, leaving the skipper alone on watch.
The skipper navigated the vessel into the firth using the autopilot and, by 0342, had turned her onto an easterly heading. His initial intention was to transit the main channel. However, the conditions were better than expected, with westerly winds of force 3 to 4, a slight sea and good visibility. He therefore decided to take the shorter route through the Inner Sound to the south of the Island of Stroma, and set a course on the autopilot towards the island with the intention of joining and following an historical track on the chart plotter.
The skipper was monitoring his vessel’s progress using two radars (set on 6 and 3 miles range respectively) while seated on the port side wheelhouse chair, with his feet up on the console. The wheelhouse was warm, with no forced ventilation; the windows and door were closed.
Golden Promise was making around 9 knots when she ran aground on the Island of Stroma in position 58° 40.6’N 003° 07.9’W, at about 0444. The grounding woke the skipper.
The skipper’s initial instinct was to try to refloat Golden Promise by driving the vessel astern, but the main engine stalled. Although it was able to be restarted, it again stalled after further attempts to go astern. The crew began to muster and don lifejackets.
At 0448, the skipper broadcast a “Mayday” on VHF radio Channel 16; he did not issue a Digital Selective Calling (DSC) alert. Aberdeen Coastguard responded, deploying a rescue helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth, and Longhope and Thurso ALBs.
The crew deployed the liferaft as a precaution. They pulled the painter from the valise and tied the end to a hand-rail. The heavy rolling motion of the vessel then caused the painter to tension and the liferaft to inflate. However, the inflated liferaft was subsequently blown ashore. Distress flares and a hand-held VHF radio were collected by the crew, while the skipper checked and confirmed that the hull was undamaged.
The ALBs arrived on scene at 0535 and 0536 respectively followed, at 0602, by the RAF rescue helicopter. The crew were airlifted ashore, uninjured, landing at Lossiemouth at 0642.
There was no pollution, but the vessel subsequently sustained damage and was declared a constructive total loss .
The Golden Promise was steel built had an overall length of 18.99m and was 127 grt.
Golden Promise was manned by a crew of five, comprising a skipper, mate and three deckhands. All were share fishermen and United Kingdom nationals. At the time of the accident, the vessel’s ‘relief skipper’ was acting as skipper. He was aged 51, with 31 years’ fishing experience, the last 5 years of which had been spent as skipper on one or another of the owner’s vessels. He had started the ‘relief skipper’ role 2 months before the accident. This entailed being the skipper of Ròis Mhàiri, for 4 days, followed by 10 days on Golden Promise, and then taking 2 weeks leave. He had obtained a Deck Officer Certificate of Competency (Fishing Vessel) Class 2 in 1995, but had not completed the mandatory Seafish3 safety awareness training course.
The other crew generally worked on board for 2 weeks, followed by 1 to 2 weeks leave. The mate, who was the skipper’s son, did not hold a navigational qualification. He had 14 years’ fishing experience and shared the navigational watches with the skipper. One of the deckhands also occasionally took watches. He had 9 years’ fishing experience and had completed a Seafish 5-day bridge watchkeeping course. Of the other two deckhands, one had not attended the mandatory safety awareness course, and the other had not attended the basic first-aid course.
The skipper and mate each worked a daily routine of 16 hours on duty, followed by 8 hours rest. The skipper normally worked from 1000 to 0200; the mate normally worked from 0200 to 1800. The deckhands worked a daily routine of 19 hours followed by staggered 5-hour rest periods. The typical duration of a tow was between 11⁄4 and 11⁄2 hours; having recovered and deployed the fishing gear following a tow, the deckhands spent up to a further 20 minutes on deck dealing with the catch and were then able to rest before recovering the gear again.
On 30 August 2011, Golden Promise’s relief skipper joined the vessel, which the following day began dredging for scallops to the north-west of Loch Eriboll, off the north coast of Scotland.
On 2 September, Golden Promise’s catch was landed at Scrabster, and the vessel then returned to the fishing grounds. Later that day, one of the derricks sustained minor damage and, on 5 September, a cooling water pipe burst on one of the auxiliary engines, but these defects were not sufficient to warrant a suspension of her fishing operations.
At 0200 on 6 September, the mate came on watch after his scheduled 8 hours rest and relieved the skipper. The skipper reported sleeping well during his rest period and he returned on duty at 1020.
At 1645, the skipper started to steam the vessel back into Scrabster to land her catch. The mate, assisted by the deckhands, carried out some maintenance and removed the damaged derrick. He then went to the engine room to undertake routine checks and continue to clean up following the burst pipe incident, before retiring to bed at 2000, 2 hours later than usual. During the passage to Scrabster, the qualified deckhand took over the navigational watch for a short period while the skipper showered; the other deckhands were off duty.
At 2045, the mate came back on duty as Golden Promise approached Scrabster, and at 2115 the vessel was manoeuvred alongside. There was a delay in landing the catch due to the unavailability of pallets and because the lorry collecting the catch had not arrived, so the crew began to fit a replacement derrick and undertake further maintenance. They then landed the catch, and embarked provisions.
The forecast was for westerly to north-westerly winds of up to force 7, which the skipper considered would preclude fishing at the previous grounds due to the swell. Having consulted with the skipper of Ròis Mhàiri, which had been fishing in the same area, he decided to head east through the Pentland Firth, then to the south of Wick, where he hoped the fishing grounds would be more sheltered. To take advantage of the next predicted easterly tidal flow in the firth, the skipper decided to depart early that morning. Ròis Mhàiri remained in Scrabster; her skipper hoped the weather would not be as bad as had been forecast, and intended to return to the previous grounds when conditions allowed.
At around 0145 on 7 September, the skipper returned from his visit to Ròis Mhàiri and relayed the plan to the crew. Although the skipper was nearing the end of his normal work period, he perceived that the mate was tired; the mate had been up for 24 hours with only a brief rest. He therefore decided to navigate the vessel through the Pentland Firth himself to allow the mate some time to rest.
At 0200, the mate went to bed and, at 0230, Golden Promise departed Scrabster. At 0245, the deckhands went to bed, leaving the skipper alone on watch.
The skipper navigated the vessel into the firth using the autopilot and, by 0342, had turned her onto an easterly heading. His initial intention was to transit the main channel. However, the conditions were better than expected, with westerly winds of force 3 to 4, a slight sea and good visibility. He therefore decided to take the shorter route through the Inner Sound to the south of the Island of Stroma, and set a course on the autopilot towards the island with the intention of joining and following an historical track on the chart plotter.
The skipper was monitoring his vessel’s progress using two radars (set on 6 and 3 miles range respectively) while seated on the port side wheelhouse chair, with his feet up on the console. The wheelhouse was warm, with no forced ventilation; the windows and door were closed.
Golden Promise was making around 9 knots when she ran aground on the Island of Stroma in position 58° 40.6’N 003° 07.9’W, at about 0444. The grounding woke the skipper.
The skipper’s initial instinct was to try to refloat Golden Promise by driving the vessel astern, but the main engine stalled. Although it was able to be restarted, it again stalled after further attempts to go astern. The crew began to muster and don lifejackets.
At 0448, the skipper broadcast a “Mayday” on VHF radio Channel 16; he did not issue a Digital Selective Calling (DSC) alert. Aberdeen Coastguard responded, deploying a rescue helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth, and Longhope and Thurso ALBs.
The crew deployed the liferaft as a precaution. They pulled the painter from the valise and tied the end to a hand-rail. The heavy rolling motion of the vessel then caused the painter to tension and the liferaft to inflate. However, the inflated liferaft was subsequently blown ashore. Distress flares and a hand-held VHF radio were collected by the crew, while the skipper checked and confirmed that the hull was undamaged.
The ALBs arrived on scene at 0535 and 0536 respectively followed, at 0602, by the RAF rescue helicopter. The crew were airlifted ashore, uninjured, landing at Lossiemouth at 0642.
There was no pollution, but the vessel subsequently sustained damage and was declared a constructive total loss .
The Golden Promise was steel built had an overall length of 18.99m and was 127 grt.