A blaze that engulfed a trawler in the Moray Firth and forced five crewmen to abandon ship was likely sparked by a discarded cigarette.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch has released its report into the sinking of the Fraserburgh-registered Karinya, which went down about 40 miles from the port late last year.
The five-man crew had been fishing for prawns when skipper Michael Ritchie noticed smoke pouring from the cabin.
He immediately instructed his four crew members to don their abandon ship lifejackets, but the fire blocked their access to the cabin.
Instead all five men grabbed the personal flotation devices normally used for fishing in bad weather, and scrambled off the twin-rig vessel and into a life raft.
An Inverness-based search and rescue helicopter and the Fraserburgh RNLI all-weather lifeboat were both dispatched to the scene on October 5 last year as other vessels in the area went to the crew’s aid.
The nearby trawler Pleiades picked up the emergency broadcast and was able to pick the crew up from their inflatable dinghy.
The Banff-registered vessel stayed on the scene with the RNLI craft as the men watched their boat burn for nearly eight hours and sink shortly after 9pm.
As the Karinya was carrying several gas canisters and more than 10,000 litres of diesel, the RNLI volunteers were asked to stand down their firefighting efforts for fear of an explosion.
Now the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published a detailed accident report, which points to a cigarette as the most likely cause.
The report – which acknowledges that a forensic fire investigation has not been possible due to the Karinya foundering in deep water – states: “It is probable that the fire resulted from a poorly discarded cigarette end that was not fully extinguished and was left in the cabin, or fell or was blown down the internal stairway and through the open cabin door.”
Other “less likely” causes including faulty electrical equipment were noted.
The MAIB has now issued new fire safety guidance to trawlermen in the wake of the incident.
The safety lessons printed on the new flyer include keeping cabins clear of combustable material, operating a closed-door policy to stop fires spreading, and conducting regular emergency drills.
Investigators say the Karinya crew were “fortunate” that the Pleiades was so close, but praised their well-practiced emergency drills.
Victor Sutherland, coxswain of the Fraserburgh lifeboat, was on duty the day the Karinya sank.
Last night he said: “It’s your worst nightmare, no matter what size of vessel you’re on, fire.
“You have no choice but to tackle it. You’ve got an endless supply of water to tackle the fire with but a very real chance of flooding your boat and getting into a sinking scenario.”
Mr Sutherland echoed the report’s conclusions that good emergency training is “the key thing” in such situations.
He added: “It was a sad sight to see the Karinya burning for so long. There was a feeling of helplessness watching someone’s livelihood being destroyed.
“You’re always told during sea survival courses to stay with the vessel as long as you can – abandonment should always be a last resort.
“But with the ferocity of fire, it was just a matter of minutes that the wheelhouse was engulfed in smoke. Things can go wrong so, so quickly.”
Skipper Michael Ritchie could not be contacted for comment last night.