Fishing Vessel hits large Sailing Vessel in Good Visibility 20/8/2010

Here is the press release from this incident. At a hearing 30/05/2011 at Southampton Magistrates the Officer of the Watch of a fishing vessel pleaded guilty to one safety charge brought under Section 58 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. He was fined £1,700 plus costs of £6,435. On the 20th August 2010 the Andrea had finished fishing and was returning to port in the Netherlands. The skipper and rest of the crew were below leaving Jan Baarssen alone on the bridge in sole charge of the vessel. The Andrea is a 36.5 metre beam trawler registered in the UK but is based in the Netherlands The Alexander von Humboldt was returning to Germany after a training voyage with a crew of fifty nine (59) consisting of thirty three (33) trainees and twenty six (26) full time crew. She is a large three masted sail training vessel registered in Germany. The visibility on the day was good (10 Km +), wind was southerly force 5-6 with weather being grey and overcast. During the afternoon of the 20th August 2011 the Alexander von Humboldt detected the Andrea on a steady bearing on its port side. The Andrea was not fishing and was the give way vessel. The Alexander von Humboldt started sounding its whistle. The Andrea failed to give way. The Alexander von Humboldt also tried to contact the Andrea by VHF radio but had no response. The Andrea claims to have gone hard to starboard and when within 15-20 metres of the Alex von Humboldt, the Andrea was seen to go full astern. The Andrea struck the port quarter of the Alexander von Humboldt. It was a fairly low speed collision. Apart from some scratched paintwork, the Andrea was undamaged. The Alexander von Humboldt was lucky to suffer only some dented shell plating with associated damage to internal wooden bulkheads and deck planking together with bent or buckled handrails. It was very fortunate that no harm came to the crew of the Alexander von Humboldt and that its rigging and watertight integrity remained intact. Mr Jan Baarssen, 51, of Urk, Netherlands pleaded guilty for conduct endangering ships or persons. He was finerd£1,700 plus costs of £6,435 In passing sentence the Magistrates stated that it was fortunate that they were no injuries especially among the sail training crew. Mr David Fuller O.B.E., Principal Fishing Vessel Surveyor for the Eastern Region of the MCA stated:"This is yet another incident occurring on the return of a fishing vessel to harbour. Fishermen are reminded of the requirement to keep a good lookout at all times. Also that that the trip is not over until the vessel is safely tied up in port. We would like to thank the German and Netherlands Police for their assistance in this matter"