Galway Bay fm newsroom - The Marine Casualty Investigations Board is warning fishermen to ensure they wear personal floatation devices outside of clothing.
It's part of a recommendation of the board after its investigation following the death of a fisherman after falling from his boat near Tawin Island in September last year.
The fisherman had set off in his boat, the Loch Corrib II, from a small pier at Ballinacourty near Maree around 5a.m on September 7th last.
He was planning to attend strings of lobster pots off Tawin Island.
Later that morning, the skipper of another vessel noticed the Loch Corrib II boat stopped in the same position in the water for a period of time, with the engine still running.
There was no-one on board when he approached the vessel.
Emergency services were alerted and a search for the missing fisherman got underway.
He was located by emergency crews later that dayin Galway Bay, about 4 miles from his vessel, with his personal floatation device inflated.
However, despite attempts to resuscitate him, the man died as a result of drowning.
The MCIB found that although the fisherman had been wearing the personal floatation device, he wore it inside his oilskin jacket.
This meant he could not access the switch to activate the Personal Location Beacon, if he was conscious entering the water.
The beacon would have ensured a swifter alerting of emergency services.
The investigation found that the man may have experienced some form of collapse, which likely caused him to fall overboard.
The board wants the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to issue a Marine Notice highlighting this tragedy and emphasising the need to wear a personal floatation device outside all clothing.
