► Skipper believes boat suffered “catastrophic failure”
Three fishermen only had minutes to abandon a sinking fishing boat which rapidly went down without warning six miles off Harris, a fatal accident inquiry at Stornoway Sheriff Court has heard.
Before there were visible signs of water onboard, skipper Donald Maclennan realised she was taking on water and was radioing coastguards for a salvage pump.
Seconds into the call, the situation deteriorated very suddenly. The vessel lurched badly, water started coming in the wheelhouse and the boat quickly sank, the court was told.
Norman “Teddy” Macleod of Vatisker Park, Lewis, suffered severe hypothermia after being in the cold sea for 20 minutes in February last year.
He was airlifted to hospital but suffered a heart attack, the inquiry heard.
Crewman Lewis Davidson told the inquiry on Wednesday he thought the boat sank within two minutes of them noticing she was listing.
Fisherman died after boat sank almost instantly
9 October 2014
The position of the emergency was unknown to coastguards and delayed the rescue by about 50 minutes.
Stornoway coastguard helicopter as well as Stornoway and Leverburgh lifeboats were despatched to carry out searches in the wrong area.
Stornoway Coastguard had calculated a possible location on the east coast of Lewis
and Harris by cross-
The name of the boat was misheard as Accord by coastguards and another vessel which heard the distress call. There was a delay while vessels with that name were ruled out.
Skipper Donald Maclennan repeated the words Stornoway Coastguards three times followed by the name of the boat, Achieve.
Suddenly, during the call, the “boat lurched to starboard” and the sea was flooding into the wheelhouse.
He immediately called out “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday,” on the radio but the rising water forced him to leave the sinking vessel before he could give a position.
If he stayed a moment longer, he risked being trapped inside the wheelhouse, he added.
He didn’t press the radio’s DSC distress button -
The three men were winched from the liferaft aboard the Stornoway coastguard helicopter. They were flown to the Stornoway hospital.
Accident and emergency nurse Roderick Mackenzie was on duty at the Western Isle Hospital when Norman Macleod was admitted.
Mr Mackenzie told the inquiry Mr Macleod had severe hypothermia and suffered a cardiac arrest. He died despite attempts to resuscitate him.
The inquiry before sheriff David Sutherland is adjourned to December.
► Skipper believes boat suffered “catastrophic failure”