A fishing company must pay more than £100,000 over the Joanna C tragedy in which two crewmen died. Deckhand Adam Harper and ship's mate Robert Morley were working on the vessel when it capsized on Saturday, November 21, 2020, after its gear snagged on the seabed. The highly modified scallop dredger could not recover due to its lack of stability and rapidly sank off Newhaven.
The body of 26-year-old Adam, who was trapped inside it, was found by divers five days later. Robert’s body was found washed up near Bexhill the following month. He had been flung into the water and though he initially clung to a lifebuoy he succumbed to the cold and slipped away.
Robert Morley died following the sinking of the Joanna C near Newhaven Captain David Bickerstaff was the sole survivor of the tragedy which happened five nautical miles off the coast. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) found there was a life raft on the vessel but it did not inflate, which "adversely affected the survivability of the crew". Nearly four years on, Laura D Fishing Ltd, which operates fishing boats out of Brixham in Devon and owed the Joanna C, has pleaded guilty to failing to take all reasonable steps to ensure that a vessel was operated in a safe manner.
Adam Harper was also a victim of the boating tragedy The Joanna C had undergone a major refurbishment in 2019 which included the addition of a whaleback (a structure over part of the foredeck), an extension of the wheelhouse and fitting raised bulw.
