Crew praised for effort to save overboard fisherman

Scott Rennie was a carrying out a repair on the King Challenger when the accident happened in June 2016

A sheriff has praised fishermen's efforts in trying to save a crew-mate who fell into the sea in an accident off Shetland.

Scott Rennie, 34, from Newton Stewart, was knocked overboard by a piece of dredge equipment while he was carrying out repairs on the King Challenger.

He was pulled from the water but later died in hospital.

Following a fatal accident inquiry, Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said the crew acted as "quickly as possible".

The Ballantrae-registered King Challenger was fishing for scallops west of Scalloway when the accident happened at about 09:40 on 23 June 2016.

'Selfless bravery'

Mr Rennie was carrying out a repair to a dredge bag when the boat rolled in a swell and he was struck by an unsecured tow bar. He lost his balance and fell into the sea.

The rescue effort included Darren Rennie - no relation - diving into the sea to get a line around his unconscious crewmate.

In his determination, the sheriff said: "I would wish to record the fact that, in my judgement, all members of the crew of the FV King Challenger did all that they could to recover Mr Rennie from the water as quickly as possible.

"In particular, the actions of Darren Rennie are to be acknowledged.

"Mr Rennie displayed incredible selfless bravery in the action he took in order to try to save the life of Scott Rennie."