The Harvest Hope sank quickly in the North Sea

The Harvest Hope's seven crew escaped into a life raft before being picked up by another boat in August last year.

The boat was fishing 40 miles off Peterhead and sank in about 15 minutes.

A Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report said it highlighted the dangers posed to fishermen of working next to oil and gas pipelines.

Charts and other information available to fishermen clearly highlight the risks and extreme dangers of trawling in the vicinity of pipelines MAIB report

The MAIB report said some pipelines did not appear on charts of the seabed.

After the snagging, water poured into the boat and a list quickly developed. The crew had to abandon the boat.

The report said: "BP and Shell subsequently arranged underwater surveys to inspect their pipeline integrity.

"These surveys also briefly inspected the wreck, which was found lying intact in about 99m of water."

The report said chains on the vessel's trawl gear had snagged large mounds of boulder clay, probably created when a plough had either stalled or jumped during the trenching back-fill process to cover a pipeline.

The Harvest Hope's nets snagged on the seabed

It said: "Charts and other information available to fishermen clearly highlight the risks and extreme dangers of trawling in the vicinity of pipelines.

"The extent of this practice is unknown, but it is common knowledge that increased numbers of fish often tend to congregate in the vicinity of certain seabed obstructions.

"Despite the fact that trawling near pipelines is clearly risky, it is likely that modern commercial pressures will often tend to drive fishermen to take greater risks to catch fish.