A CREWMAN who suffered life changing injuries after being struck on the head with a steel pole was not wearing any head protection, it has been revealed.

Aurelian Dinu was critically injured with multiple contusions on August 3 last year, whilst on board the twin rig prawn trawler, named Sea Harvester near Ailsa Craig.

The 30-year-old Romanian national was seriously injured after being struck on the head by a steel pole during the recovery of fishing gear that had become caught on an underwater obstruction in the Firth of
Clyde. 

Aurelian suffered serious, life-changing injuries and now requires medical care for the foreseeable future.

It was revealed, at around 5.10pm, the centreline guide-pole on the vessel suddenly bent and released from its socket and struck Aurelian on the left side of the top of his head and he immediately fell to the
deck. 

It is reported that the guide-pole was lost overboard after striking him.

Aurelian was airlifted by a stretcher into the helicopter and he was then taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where he arrived just after 7.30pm.

In the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report that was published on Thursday, July 6, it explains Aurelian was standing in a dangerous position and was not protected by a safety helmet.

It states: “The deckhand was struck by a guide-pole that had been propelled from its socket by the force exerted from the port trawl’s wire bridle acting in conjunction with the vessel’s motion.

“The injured deckhand was standing in a dangerous position and his head was not protected by a safety helmet, non-compliance with a number of regulatory requirements had the potential to compromise the safety of the vessel and its crew and the underwater obstruction caught by Sea Harvester’s trawls was possibly the wreck of the fishing vessel ‘Karen’.”

The accident investigation report also said that any protection, no matter how limited, could have potentially reduced the severity of the life-changing injuries Aurelian received.

A recommendation has been made to Sea Harvester’s owners to ensure that the vessel’s future safe operation is regularly checked.