Fisherman who died after falling overboard in Sound of Rhum named

The 61-year-old fisherman who died after falling overboard from a fishing boat in the Sound of Rhum on Thursday, 24 June last has been named as Lachlan Robertson.

Tributes have been paid to Mr Robertson who lived in Mallaig from where he fished. Rachael and Kenna Robertson, Mr Robertson’s daughters thanked the community for their “kind words.”

The incident which occurred onboard the Reul a’Chuain with three crew members onboard. Mr Robertson was one of two crew members who went overboard two nautical miles northwest of the island of Eigg in the Inner Hebrides. The pair were recovered from the water by the third crew member.

A rescue operation was launched after HM Coastguard received a Mayday call from the vessel just before 7.10pm. The alert was issued to other vessels in the area and the Coastguard helicopter from Stornoway, along with the RNLI lifeboats from Mallaig and Y-Tobermory were dispatched to the scene.

The Coastguard said the remaining crew member had managed to get both men back onboard, where the helicopter’s winch paramedic attended to them. The second crew member suffered minor injuries but did not need hospitalisation.

On Friday 25 June, the day following the incident, in a social media post Mr Robertson’s two daughters told mourners:

“If anyone would like to join, a few people have asked if they can put flowers on dad’s boat tomorrow – the Reul a’Chuain.

“Investigations will be ongoing in the morning, but you are welcome to leave flowers by the statues at calmac in the morning which we will move later or go to the boat in the evening to leave them.

“Thank you everyone for your kind words, the support from the community has been amazing and much appreciated.”

Clyde Fishermen’s Association wrote, “With thoughts to the family. Rest in Peace.”

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch has confirmed that they are investigating the incident of a man overboard incident from the fishing vessel, Reul a’Chuain in the Sound of Rhum near Mallaig, which resulted in the loss of one life.