TSB says harsh weather, lack of contingency plan contributed to fatal vessel sinking
Report says without planning, 'risks to rescuers as well as crews of vessels under tow may be increased'
A fatal fishing vessel incident near Canso, N.S., in 2022 was caused in part by severe weather conditions and a lack of contingency planning for towing disabled vessels, according to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
The board on Thursday released its investigative report into the rescue operation of the Mucktown Girl, which resulted in the death of one of the halibut boat's crew members and injuries to two Canadian Coast Guard crew.
The Mucktown Girl, a 15-metre vessel with five people on board, was around 160 kilometres southeast of Canso when it experienced electrical problems and lost power late in the night on March 11, 2022. The crew contacted the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax and the coast guard ship Jean Goodwill arrived the next morning.
The report says the coast guard decided to tow the Mucktown Girl toward Mulgrave, N.S., because a storm was forecasted. Since the vessel was not assessed to be "in imminent distress," the crew remained aboard, but the tow failed six hours into the operation due to "high towing speed, harsh weather conditions, and the towing arrangement."
"There were no contingency plans to re-establish the tow or to remove the crew from the Mucktown Girl," the report said, adding that the master of the Mucktown Girl reported to the Jean Goodwill that the crew was managing in the sea conditions and would stay on the vessel to weather the storm.
However, on the morning of March 13, 2022, weather conditions worsened, with winds of up to 90 kilometres per hour and waves up to 10 metres high.
The Mucktown Girl began taking on water, the report said, and crew members donned immersion suits and abandoned the boat into a life-raft without contacting the coast guard.
Two members of the coast guard were injured while trying to rescue the boat's crew members.
Four of the Mucktown Girl crew were able to board the Jean Goodwill from the water, but one was swept away. He was later recovered by a search and rescue helicopter and flown to Cape Breton Regional Hospital in Sydney, where he was pronounced dead.
"The investigation found that without comprehensive contingency planning for towing disabled vessels, risks to rescuers as well as crews of vessels under tow may be increased," the report said.
"When the towing arrangement failed, there were no contingency plans to re-establish the tow or to remove the crew from the vessel. Consequently, as conditions worsened, the crew of the Mucktown Girl remained on the drifting vessel to weather the storm."
The report also found that as a result of the weather, communication between the Mucktown Girl and the Jean Goodwill broke down, which impacted efforts to get the crew members off the life-raft and onto the coast guard vessel.
Aftermath of the incident
The fisherman who died was later identified as Jeremy Hart of Windsor Junction, N.S. He was eventually pulled out of the water after spending five hours in the ocean off eastern Nova Scotia.
At the time, the coast guard said Hart had ended up in the water while the boat's crew was being transferred from a life-raft to the Jean Goodwill.
Moving forward, the coast guard will be assessing towing gear aboard its vessels and looking over its search and rescue training and exercise standards, among other changes, the report said.
