The former owner of the beam trawler Mary Kate WD 30 has appealed to Irish politicians to present details of his experience to the EU’s review of the fishing vessel safety directive.

Arklow fisherman CJ Gaffney, who discovered serious stability issues with the Dutch trawler after he bought it in 2007, was left with debts of €1m after a nightmare experience with the vessel.

He tried to take legal action in both the Netherlands and Germany, took out a loan to cover fixing the vessel, and then had to surrender it to the bank in 2012.

He sought EU funds in compensation, but the EU said it was up to the national state. The vessel was broken up in New Ross, Co Wexford earlier this year under the government’s decommissioning scheme.

In a letter to Irish government ministers, European parliament members, councillors and senators, CJ Gaffney writes: “We have been informed by the European Commission, DG MOVE (Mobility and Transport), that the EU accident investigation and port state control directives are being updated in order to be able to better address fishing vessel safety.

“These proposals are now up for debate in both the EU parliament and in the shipping working party of the Council which allows EU representatives of member states to debate the issue.

“In addition to this, the current Fishing Vessel Safety Directive, including its scope, is being re-evaluated.

“As there is now a concrete focus with the EU on fishing vessel safety, I don’t need to articulate that this is exactly the forum for the case of our former beam trawler, Mary Kate WD 30, not alone to be debated but be highlighted as a case in point for all EU member states.”

Noting that the case of the Mary Kate received significant publicity in various maritime publications in Europe, he says that questions need to be asked at both national level and EU level as to how this beam trawler was issued with a stamped stability book from a renowned international classification society.

He also says questions should be asked as to how a valid ship sailing permit was issued when it had 20t of unaccounted steel present, and how the case was handled after various authorities had been notified of this.

CJ Gaffney includes a link to a Dutch Safety Board investigation into stability issues on Dutch trawlers under 25m in length, noting that the Mary Kate was Dutch-built and under 24m.

“As the EU Ship Safety Division is now carrying out a review of the directives in relation to ship safety, I trust you will officially submit the case of the Irish-registered Mary Kate WD 30 for inclusion in this review,” he writes.

He also asks the politicians to ‘notify the Irish Marine Survey Office who have been previously hamstrung in their ability to lead an official EU investigation with the new legislation’ which may ‘finally allow them to conduct an investigation along with their Dutch and German counterparts’.

The link to the Dutch Safety Board investigation can be found here.

This story was taken from the latest issue of Fishing News. For more up-to-date and in-depth reports on the UK and Irish commercial fishing sector, subscribe to Fishing News here or buy the latest single issue for just £3.30 here. 

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