Fisherman died after he was swept overboard, inquest told

A fisherman was not wearing a lifejacket when he went overboard at sea and drowned, an inquest has heard.

Madis Letsors, aged 39, of Dromad Terrace, Armagh, was among the crew on a Mayo-owned fishing vessel when he tragically lost his life while fishing off the coast of Donegal in February 2023. An inquest into his death took place in Ballina last week.

Gda Paul Agnew told the inquest that fishing boat, ‘Seamie’, came ashore at Ballyglass on February 5, 2023.

Pat O’Donnell, the owner of the boat, said in his statement to the inquest that he had driven Mr Letsors and four other fishermen to Killbegs where the vessel had been repaired a week earlier. The five-man crew then took off fishing from Killybegs on February 1, 2023, for a number of days. 

Mr O’Donnell said the boat usually operates out of Ballyglass pier and is a “good all-weather boat”. He said he became aware of an incident aboard the vessel at around 8pm on February 4, 2023, when he received a WhatsApp voice note from the skipper, Agris Veliks. The message stated that Mr Letsors had become tangled in rope and pulled overboard.

A Health and Safety Authority investigation into the circumstances of the accident has taken place, the inquest was told. 

Mr Veliks, the boat’s skipper, said they were approximately 90 miles out to sea and were hauling pots when the night-time accident occurred.

He said Madis had been ‘shooting out’ pots. Mr Veliks was in the wheelhouse watching the camera and could see the pots going out. He could see Mr Letsors making his way up to the weight and pulling it. Mr Veliks said there was 40m of rope between each pot and the same applied to the weight. He said Mr Letsors was pulling the weight away from the wheelhouse and he thought the rope was wrapped around Mr Letsor’s hand. Mr Veliks said as the pots entered the water Mr Letsors was pulled into the sea with the heavy weight following him into the water. He said the rope later snapped.

They used the boat’s lights to search for Mr Letsors and spotted his body in the water about 40 metres away from the boat. They used a hook to pull him close to the boat and hauled him onto the deck where they started CPR and chest compressions.

Mr Veliks contacted Malin Head Coast Guard to inform them what had happened and received further instructions from a doctor but they were unable to revive Mr Letsors.

Mr Veliks could not say exactly how long the deceased was in the water but believed it to be more than 10 minutes.

The boat was instructed to steam for Arranmore but a helicopter was unable to board and the vessel later made its way to Ballyglass.

Mr Veliks said lifejackets were on board but Mr Letsors was not wearing one at the time. He said Mr Letsors had previously completed three trips on the fishing boat. The skipper said Mr Letsors told him he had completed his fishing training in Latvia but he never saw his cards to prove this. 

“He was supposed to be bringing them to me,” said Mr Veliks.

The skipper said he had previously noticed that Mr Letsors had a “bad habit” of wrapping things around his hand and the crew had warned him about this before.

Dr Fadel Bennani, consultant pathologist at Mayo University Hospital, performed a post-mortem on February 6, 2023. He said the cause of death was asphyxia due to drowning.

Coroner Dr Eleanor Fitzgerald gave a verdict of accidental death and stressed the need for fishermen to wear life jackets at sea.

“All fisherman should wear lifejackets regardless of how proficient or experienced they are. Wearing a life jacket may have saved his (Mr Letsors) life.

“The dangers of the sea cannot be underestimated,” Dr Fitzgerald added.