Inquiry rules Cork fisherman died after 'very unfortunate common slip or fall'
A fisherman from Cork died on board a trawler 15 months ago after suffering “a very unfortunate common slip or fall”, according to an official inquiry by marine investigators.Des Hurley, aged 29, from Kinsale suffered fatal injuries in the accommodation deck of a family-owned fishing vessel, Breizh Arvor II, on December 14, 2023.The incident occurred on the third day of an intended 10-13 days’ fishing trip while the 22.5-metre trawler was fishing for prawns in the Porcupine Basin around 100 nautical miles off the Blasket Islands, Co Kerry.A report by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) said circumstantial evidence indicated Mr Hurley may have missed a step or slipped before hitting his head off a hard surface.Alternatively, the MCIB said he may have misjudged the height of the sleeping area and hit his head before falling to the floor. It said loose footwear and the rolling movement of the vessel may also have contributed to what happened.MCIB investigators observed that there was a fresh Force 5 breeze at the time with moderate to rough seas with the vessel rolling moderately. Mr Hurley – who was not identified in the MCIB report – was found by other crew members lying unresponsive on the deck in the sleeping area.Efforts to revive him proved unsuccessful and the vessel, which is owned by James Hurley Fisheries, returned to its home port of Castletownbere, Co Cork. The report noted that the deceased had worked on Breizh Arvor II for seven years and had 13 years’ experience of working at sea.It said the fatal incident occurred after Mr Hurley had stopped working in order to go to the wheelhouse to relieve his brother, Michael – the vessel’s skipper – on watch, while the other five crew members remained on deck.The report said the deceased had taken off his oilskins and wellington boots and put on a pair of Crocs and went below to the accommodation deck to change his jumper. It observed that he appeared to use the Crocs as a pair of slip-ons without using their ankle straps.Mr Hurley was discovered in an unresponsive state on his back on the cabin floor next to his bunk about 10 minutes later when the skipper went to check why he was late taking over his watch. CPR was commenced on the victim, without success.The MCIB report noted that it could not be determined exactly what happened. It postulated he might have missed one of the two steps down from his berth while moving forward in a crouched position or slipped. It said it was also possible that the Crocs caused the deceased to slip.A report by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) said circumstantial evidence indicated Mr Hurley may have missed a step or slipped before hitting his head off a hard surface.An investigating garda considered that the floor material was slippery, although an investigation by the Health and Safety Authority concluded that there were no issues with the flooring. A postmortem examination showed he suffered a fracture of the neck as well as bruising to the front of his head.The coroner observed that there was strong circumstantial evidence that Mr Hurley lost his footing on the ladder, sustained a neck injury and suffered cardiorespiratory failure as a result of “extremely bad luck”. The coroner, Frank O’Connell, said it was a case of “lightning striking” which had led to a “one-in-a-million death”. The MCIB issued a number of recommendations including that a marine notice should be issued by the minister of transport to highlight the importance of wearing secure footwear at all times on board fishing vessels.
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