A son who feared his creel skipper dad had been dragged overboard found his boot tangled up in fishing gear.
Tragically Tony Masson didn’t survive, despite son Duncan raising the alarm.
Tony, 67, had spent the morning of March 27 this year working on the Sea Mist near his home port of Macduff in Aberdeenshire.
But his leg got caught in a back rope, pulling him into the water.
Duncan was nearby on his own vessel and saw the Sea Mist going round in circles. After 30 minutes he found his dad’s Wellington boot entangled in a rope.
Tony was recovered from the sea by an RNLI crew but was declared dead on arrival at hospital.
Today a Marine Accident Investigation Branch report into the tragedy finds he drowned either because he was dragged under by the weight of the creels or he may have been unable to keep himself afloat after releasing his foot from his boot.
