MO))) Editor Nov 13, 2014
Larry Lynch Verified #free

Safety Board issues report on fatal sinking

On May 18, 2013 three fishermen drowned when thier boat got stuck on a sandbar In Tabusintac.  The Transportation Safety Board today released its report, and the federal minister of fisheries and oceans issued a statement.

The victims were 23-year-old Samuel-René Boutin of Saumarez, N.B., 32-year-old

Alfred Rousselle of Brantville, N.B. and 35-year-old Ian Benoit of Tabusintac, N.B. They were killed when their boat overturned early in the morning of May 18. Following an extensive search by a number of agencies and local volunteers, their bodies were recovered from the shoreline over the weekend.

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The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, today issued the following statement today in response to the release of the Transportation Safety Board’s final report following its investigation into the May 18, 2013, sinking of the fishing vessel Marie J, near McEachern’s Point, New Brunswick:

 

"We were deeply saddened by the tragic accident that happened at McEachern’s Point in May of last year. Since then, I have travelled to Tabusintac and I have met with the MacEachern’s Point Harbour Authority and have seen how the tragedy has impacted the community.

 

I want to take this opportunity to extend our Government’s deepest condolences again to the families who lost loved ones. Our thoughts continue to be with them and the communities touched by the loss of the three men who died.

 

The Department has received the Transportation Safety Board’s report. We are reviewing its findings carefully. I believe this report is important in helping to understand how industry and the Government can learn from this and further enhance the safety of mariners in the future.  

I believe this is an opportunity to engage in a dialogue and to work closely with the provinces and the fishing industry to promote greater industry safety and would like to reiterate our Government’s commitment to working with all concerned in this regard.”

A wide turn, sandbar, and breaking waves led to a 2013 fatal fishing vessel grounding in Tabusintac Bay, New Brunswick

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, 13 November 2014 – In itsinvestigation report (M13M0102) into a fatal accident involving the fishing vessel Marie J released today, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) concluded that a wide turn close to a sandbar, and successive breaking waves contributed to the grounding and sinking of the vessel. The three people onboard drowned.

On 18 May 2013, the small lobster fishing vessel grounded on a sandbar in bad weather while returning to McEachern's Point Harbour in Tabusintac Bay, New Brunswick. The investigation found that the vessel made a wide turn around the first red buoy at the beginning of the channel, positioning the vessel close to the sandbar. Two successive breaking waves struck the vessel, set it to port and caused it to ground on the sandbar. The waves continued to strike the vessel, pushing it over the sandbar where it sank.

The TSB also determined that two other contributing factors to the grounding were that both the accuracy of the locations of the buoys and the position of the sandbar could not be determined because the tidal gully was prone to silting and bottom shifting.

Since the occurrence, the Canadian Coast Guard reviewed buoy placement in the channel, and five green port hand buoys were added to the channel. For its part, Fisheries and Oceans Canada commissioned a study to assess alternative strategies for improving navigational safety to access McEachern's Point Harbour at Tabusintac Bay. The study identified multiple options and found future environmental changes may cause additional breaches in the sandbars, decreasing tidal flow and increasing sedimentation.

 

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