The Starlight Rays owner must pay £20,000 for a health and safety breach after a crewman died from carbon monoxide whilst working on the trawler.

The skipper of a fishing boat featured in the BBC television series Trawlermen has been fined after entering a guilty plea in the on board death of one of his crew.

James Thores was fined £20,000, reduced from £30,000, after admitting to a safety breach on the vessel.

Crewman Artis Sterkis, 37, was pumping water from the Starlight Rays in August 2011 when he collapsed and had to be airlifted to hospital by rescue helicopter.

The crewman died having never regained consciousness, and the cause of death was recorded as carbon monoxide poisoning.

A Marine Accident Investigation Branch report on the incident revealed that the pump’s petrol engine had been running for more than an hour in a compartment with very little air circulation while Sterkis was working.

The fishing boat was performing stand-by duties for the oil industry off the coast of Aberdeen when the fatality occurred.

Related links:

Protecting you and your crew from carbon monoxide poisoning

Coastal fatality figures show 163 lost their lives last year

MAIB issues safety recommendations following fatal yacht crash