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App could prevent repeat of Arbroath trawler tragedy

The launch of a new app which will help make life safer for North Sea fishermen with help from the oil and gas industry. John Watt, director of marine operations at Scottish Fishermens Federation Services Ltd, with the app.
The launch of a new app which will help make life safer for North Sea fishermen with help from the oil and gas industry. John Watt, director of marine operations at Scottish Fishermens Federation Services Ltd, with the app.

The legacy of an Angus fishing boat disaster is helping ensure there is no repeat of the tragedy on the North Sea.

FishSAFE was set up after four men died when the Arbroath trawler Westhaven sank after it snagged on an underwater pipeline in 1997.

An electronic safety device was previously designed to prevent a repeat of the tragedy and Tuesday saw the launch of a companion mobile phone application.

The FishSAFE Companion App will give information about oil and gas equipment on the sea bed and surface so fishermen can better understand what the object is.

It is designed to complement FishSAFE Information and the FishSAFE unit already used by hundreds of skippers who fish in the North Sea.

It provides them with detailed information about potential oil and gas-related hazards in UK waters.

The new free app provides extra information about objects such as subsea wellheads, pipelines and protective structures.

It has been developed and made by Aberdeen-based AVC Media.

The UK Fisheries Offshore Oil and Gas Legacy Trust Fund Limited (FLTC) works on safety between the oil and fishing industries. Chairman Niall Scott said: “We are really pleased with the app as it provides information on people’s smartphones or tablets so they don’t have to buy or maintain an extra piece of kit it’s there in their hands when they need it.

“There are thousands of oil and gas objects on the sea bed and on the surface, with 26,000km of pipelines alone and many of them can be a potential hazard for fishing vessels.

“We’re here to help save fishermen’s lives and we hope the app can go a long way to providing information to do that.”

Fishermen can download the app while onshore or at sea and the information is permanently stored on their smartphone or tablet so they can easily view it, even when there is no mobile phone coverage.

John Watt, former skipper and director of marine operations at Scottish Fishermen’s Federation Services Ltd, said: “We feel that the FishSAFE Companion App is a great initiative.”