Sailor lost - the hazard of fishing vessels at sea

10:14 PM Sun 24 May 2009 GMT

'Cannot be relied upon to keep proper watch at sea' .

The lack of proper lookout on many fishing trawlers was underlined this week when a fishing trawler collided with a yacht and continued without stopping. An American citizen is lost at sea presumed drowned after the collision.

American Kenneth Wayne, 62, is lost at sea off the east coast of Malaysia near Kuantan, while his yacht mates - James Edward, 27, from Ireland, and Anon, 44, Papop, 33, and Butsara Tom Tantak, 31, from Thailand - were rescued by another fishing boat.

Their yacht sank while the unidentified trawler did not stop after the collision.

Kuantan, Malaysia - .. .

Kuantan OCPD Assistant Commissioner of Police Mohd Jasmani Yusoff said the police received a report from Kuantan marine police at about 10.45am that four people had been rescued by a fishing vessel, TFA 2009, 31 nautical miles off Kuantan Port.

'They were brought to safety at the Kuantan marine police jetty at about noon and were rushed to Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital for treatment.

'Edward James and Butsara were warded at the casualty ward while Anon and Papop were given outpatient treatment,'' ACP Mohd Jasmani said here Sunday.

He added that a search and rescue team had been mounted comprising personnel from the marine police, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and Royal Malaysian Navy.

The group had set sail from Phuket, Thailand on May 16 and was heading to Langkawi, Singapore and Tioman, he added.

Editor's Note: There are a number of reasons why fishing boats may not keep a proper watch at sea and pose a hazard, particularly to a yacht which, for whatever reason, cannot make way:

** They are often undercrewed, and sometimes do not get enough sleep during their sojourns at sea, so a watch may be imperfectly kept.
** On occasions the entire crew can be called and occupied with some facet of fishing, and they do not monitor their radio.
** At some stages of the fishing process their fishing lights are so bright that their night vision is severely impaired
** While they are manoeuvrable compared to a ship and hence do not pose the same threat, the noise of their engines often masks the approach of another vessel, and one cannot get their attention .

by Roslina Mohamad, The Star/Sail-World Cruising