Report on the marine accident involving the fishing vessel Gaute northeast of Nordfold in Steigen,14 November 2025
Marine report 2026/02
On Friday, 14 November 2025, the fisherman aboard the single-handed fishing vessel Gaute was out hauling nets. In the afternoon, when the fisherman had not returned, two people went out to search for him. They found the fishing vessel and saw that the fisherman had sustained a serious crushing injury in the net hauler. They immediately alerted the emergency services and brought the fishing vessel back to its home port.
Most likely the fisherman’s arm got caugth in the net hauler during the hauling operation, and he was subsequently pulled around the net drum. The investigation further revealed that the safety function which could have stopped the hydraulic net hauler had been blocked by a wooden wedge, and the emergency stop therefore did not function.
No information has emerged that provides a clear answer as to why the wooden wedge had been placed as a blockage under the bar to emergency stop function. One possible explanation is that the fisherman had previously experienced the emergency stop being triggered unnecessarily during normal operations, and to prevent unintended shutdown, a temporary block using a wooden wedge was inserted.
No faults were identified with the emergency stop function of the hydraulic system, neither by an approved company in 2024 nor by the Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority during testing of the system after the accident.
As the fisherman was alone on board, he had no opportunity to manually activate the emergency stop or alert others that he was in an emergency situation. Single-handed fishermen are particularly vulnerable if an accident occurs on board. They are therefore entirely dependent on the onboard safety devices functioning properly if an accident should happen.
The investigation of this marine accident has not revealed any new areas in which the NSIA finds it necessary to issue safety recommendations to improve maritime safety.
Published 16.04.2026
Facts
| Location | Steigen in the north part of Norway |
| Occurrence date | 14.11.2025 |
| Accident category | Personal injury |
| Area | Norwegian Territorial Waters |
| Name of vessel | Gaute |
| Accident type | Fatal Accident, Occupational accident |
| Vessel type | Fishing Vessel |
| Register | The Norwegian Ship Register |