Safety Bulletin 05 - Fisherman and Safety Awareness at Sea

When fishing in waters off the Australian coast, fishermen will
encounter large trading ships. Unfortunately, sometimes ships and
fishing vessels collide. The ATSB has investigated 21 of these
collisions since 1990. In two collisions investigated, the skippers
of the fishing vessels were trapped in their wheelhouses and
drowned when the vessels sank. The investigations have revealed
that in almost all the collisions, there were similar factors
present which contributed to the accident and precautions had not
been taken that may have saved a life or, at least aided the search
for survivors.