MAIB: Death of skipper of the Carol Anne was avoidable

Jamie Kerr, 25, died on the Carol Anne when the crane fitted to the workboat collapsed. The MAIB has now released its report into the incident.

Jamie Kerr, 25, died on the vessel, Carol Anne, at Balure in April 2015 when the crane collapsed
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The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has found that the collapse of the crane on the Carol Anne could have been avoided.

The Atlas lorry loader crane was being used to offload a net at a fish farm at Balure on Loch Spelve, Scotland when the accident happened on 30 April 2015.

The crane fell onto the workboat’s 25-year-old skipper, Jamie Kerr. He was declared dead at the scene.

The crane had been in operation since its installation on the Carol Anne six-and-a-half weeks earlier.

The MAIB found that it was not overloaded when it failed.

However, the investigation revealed that the crane would not have collapsed if it had been more securely attached to the Carol Anne.

The lock nuts, tie bolts and tab washers provided by Atlas (UK) were weaker and fewer than recommended in the company’s installation manual, said the MAIB.

“Carol Anne’s crane collapsed due to the load of the lifted net exceeding the residual
strength of the fasteners causing the threads on the lock nuts on the outboard side
of the crane pedestal to strip,” stated the report.

The MAIB also found that Atlas (UK)’s control and monitoring of the provenance of its fastenings “was not robust and its quality assurance procedures were flawed”.

Another contributing factor to the accident was that no installation guidance had been provided with the crane, as none was required by law.

“Had installation information been given, the crane’s mounting would have been significantly more secure and its collapse would have been avoided,” said the report.

The MAIB also stated that the statutory examination and testing of the crane following its installation “lacked rigour and did not identify a number of deficiencies”, including the inadequacy of the mounting arrangement.

Investigators have now issued several recommendations following the accident.

These include advising the crane’s manufacturer, Atlas Maschinen GmbH in Germany, to provide installation information with all Atlas cranes being used inside and outside of the European Community.

The MAIB had previously requested that Atlas (UK), which supplied the crane, ensure the integrity of all its cranes installed on other workboats. This was done by the company in 2015.