The first mate of the Spanish trawler which foundered on rocks in Galway Bay last year with the loss of 12 lives may have fallen asleep on watch, according to the official investigation.
The report says that there was no lookout on watch with the mate in compliance with safe navigation guidelines. The autopilot was not fitted with a watch alarm. The skipper and first mate also had insufficient certification, but the report says it is uncertain as to "what effect, if any" this may have had on the accident.
The 33 metre Arosa, a 26- year-old Spanish owned vessel registered in Britain under the "flagship" scheme, ran on to Doonguddle rocks off Mace Head in north Galway bay in the early hours of October 3rd last year. The vessel had 13 crew on board - 10 Spanish and three African - and was seeking shelter from a storm gusting to force 10.
Rather than heave to and ride out the weather at sea, the skipper opted to head for shelter of land, but was not familiar with the nearest port - Rossaveal, Co Galway. The report says he may have been concerned about one of his hull plates lifting in heavy seas; a hole had been identified nine days earlier in Ardrossan, Scotland, and had been repaired.
The vessel had been detained when in Scotland for insufficient certificates of competency, and only sailed when two qualified British skippers joined. However, both left the vessel in Killybegs, Co Donegal, on September 27th.
Fatigue is a common cause of groundings in fishing vessels, and there are indicators that it caused this accident, the report by the British Marine Accident Investigation Bureau (MAIB) states. The grounding occurred at the end of the first mate's seven-hour watch. The investigation was conducted by British marine surveyors, because the Spanish-owned Arosa was registered in Milford Haven.
The sole survivor, Mr Ricardo Arias Garcia (24), was asleep below deck when he heard a loud bang. Within minutes, the Arosa was being smashed against rocks in stormy seas. He and other crewmen went on deck where most of them put on lifejackets.
He did not wear a life-jacket because he knew the vessel was on rocks and felt it might restrict his movements. If it had been open sea, he said he would have worn one, he told the investigation. It was the three African crew who launched the liferaft, as the trawler began to list and was smashed repeatedly by heavy waves. Many of the crewmen were hanging onto the ship's railings but were swept away.
The bodies of 10 of the 12 crew who died have been recovered. However, two were only identified through advanced DNA profiling, an inquest in Galway heard earlier this month. The MAIB says it has no safety recommendations to make at this time.
