By Cheryl Wood

A CHANCE-in-a-million accident was blamed for the catastrophic loss of a “virtually unsinkable” Fife fishing boat which claimed the lives of its four-strong crew.

East Neuk skipper Martin Gardner (49) and his experienced crew members Edward Gardner (50), Ian Donald (55) and Sidney Low (52) died when the Meridian foundered 160 miles off the coast of Aberdeen in violent storms last October.

A report published yesterday by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has concluded that although the exact cause of the accident may never be determined it was most probably down to a combination of factors, namely the very rough seas, synchronous rolling, water being temporarily trapped on deck and a failure of the vessel’s watertight integrity.

Chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) Bertie Armstrong said the odds of such synchronous rolling—which he said was caused by the natural period of the waves matching the natural roll of the vessel—causing the “horrendous tragedy” were a million to one.

He said, “It was unfortunately one of those things the sea will occasionally do. Every vessel has its natural period of roll.

“The odds were stacked against this happening to an incredible degree.”

The weather had significantly deteriorated several hours before the sinking of the trawler, which was guarding an oil pipeline under construction in the Blane Development Field, on the evening of October 26 in at least storm force winds.

A major search and rescue operation found the body of Edward Gardner, of Cellardyke, and an empty liferaft the day after. However, the bodies of Martin Gardner, of Anstruther, Mr Donald, of Pittenweem, and Mr Low, of Aberdeen were never recovered.

The crew had been due to complete their two-week tour of duty the day before the accident but had been asked to extend their contract by six days.

The report said the 22.6 metre boat was virtually unsinkable in its intact state which comfortably complied with stability criteria and it pointed out all four men had been fishermen most or all of their working lives.

However, the Meridian had unusually high metacentric height for a fishing boat, which would have made it “stiff” in heavy weather and vulnerable to synchronous rolling in the prevailing conditions.

It was also concluded the skipper would have needed at least 36 hours’ warning of severe weather conditions to sail to safety and there had been little or no time for the crew to raise the alarm or abandon ship and take to their liferafts.

The Kirkcaldy-registered Meridian, which operated mostly out of Aberdeen, had been used for guard duties eight times since 2001, five of those during the winter.

Mr Armstrong said, “The report confirms what we already knew that this was a well maintained, safe boat expertly led by an extremely experienced skipper and a crew with decades of fishing experience.

“Our initial thoughts are with the families who have no closure.”

A series of recommendations have been made by the MAIB in light of the tragedy and safety advice is to be issued to all fishermen.

These include recommendations that the SFF—which acts as an intermediary between fishermen employed in guard duties and the oil industry— included the lessons learned in briefings to skippers of guard ships and required companies contracting guard vessels to provide long range warning of severe weather directly to vessels in time to help the skipper decide whether to seek shelter.

Mr Armstrong said the SFF accepted the recommendations and would be looking at the weather warning advice “very seriously” and would extend the lessons to skippers of all vessels not just guard ships.

MAIB and Canadian oil company Talisman Energy, which had employed the Meridian crew, searched 206 sq km of the North Sea but the vessel was never recovered. The underwater search was called off last December after being hampered by poor weather and had resumed in April.

Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Ted Brocklebank said the report threw little light on what actually happened to the Meridian. He added, “The only hope now is that the case could be reopened if the wreck of the Meridian is ever recovered.

“My thoughts are with the families, and especially those of Sidney Low, Martin Gardner and Ian Donald, whose bodies were never found.”

Skipper Gardner’s widow Julia was unavailable for comment yesterday.