The Master of a Spanish Fishing Vessel Fined for Defective Boarding Ladder
The Master of a Spanish-registered fishing vessel, Claudio Labaen Fernandez, was convicted and fined €3,000 at Bandon District Court on the 2nd of May for an offence of failing to comply with the legal requirement to ensure a boarding ladder facilitated the safe boarding of an officer and failing to ensure the boarding ladder was in good order. The offence was detected during the course of an inspection at sea by the Irish Naval Service.
The Court heard evidence how an officer of Irish Naval Service attached to the L.É. William Butler Yeats, attempted to board the Spanish registered sea-fishing vessel, the ‘Adviento Uno’, in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone waters. However a ladder rope split as the officer was climbing the ladder. Evidence was heard how the officer managed to climb onboard after the ladder broke. Evidence was given that there was no visible sign of defects on the ladder before the boarding.
The sea-fishing vessel was directed to Castletownbere port where Sea Fisheries Protection Authority Officers conducted operational procedures to support enforcement action. It was detained for 48 hours by Court order on the 30th of April, pending the file being submitted to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP). The DPP directed the case could proceed at District Court level on a guilty plea only.
In imposing penalty, the Court remarked on the unforeseeable danger the officer had been in and the shock experienced.
An SFPA spokesperson commented:
“Failure to provide a safe boarding ladder for use by officers, as required under law, is a very serious matter, as underscored by this case. Vessel owners and fishing masters must comply with their responsibility to ensure the safety of boarding ladders at all times. The SFPA commends the Naval Service officers involved in this matter, in addition to officers of the SFPA and An Garda Síochána for their roles in the enforcement process”.
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Further Information
About the SFPA
The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) is the independent statutory body responsible for the regulation of the sea-fisheries and the sea-food production sectors. It promotes compliance with the EU Common Fisheries Policy, sea-fisheries law and food safety law relating to fish and fish products, verifies compliance and, where necessary, enforces it. Its mandate covers all fishing vessels operating within Ireland’s 200-mile limit, over 2,000 Irish registered fishing vessels wherever they operate, and all seafood produced in Ireland’s seafood processing companies. The SFPA operates through a network of regional port offices situated at Ireland’s main fishery harbours. For further information visit: www.sfpa.ie