ACCIDENTS DO HAPPEN!

The Importance of Adequate Planning and Local Knowledge

In November 2008 a small cabin cruiser attempted to leave Whitby Harbour in heavy seas.  The vessel was overwhelmed and all three people on board, who were inexperienced and unfamiliar with the area, lost their lives.  The MAIB investigation raised the question of how ports can provide safety information to leisure users, especially those without local knowledge. 

The Gloucester Harbour Trustees provide a great deal of safety information for users of small craft on this website though the menu button at the top of the screen (Safety Guidance).  Though many harbour users navigate in a responsible way, leisure users are still observed transiting the harbour area without an adequate plan and without any reference to up-to-date official charts of the area.  Leisure users have regularly ignored the existence of prohibited areas, have demonstrated a lack of understanding of the purpose of the aids to navigation and have failed to appreciate the effects of tide, tide levels and the clearance over natural features which exist outside marked channels.  Leisure craft operators must also pay due regard to the SOLAS V requirements as set out in MCA leaflet MCA/098.

The Danger of Over-Reliance on GPS and Navigating under the Influence of Alcohol

On 18 May 2009 at 23.30, the 6.3m RIB Sooty grounded on the rocky shores of Calve Island off Tobermoray on the Isle of Mull at a speed of about 20 knots.  On impact, one of the boat’s four occupants was thrown out of the boat on to the rocks and suffered sever head injuries from which he died shortly afterwards.  The accident occurred on the last day of a five day diving and fishing excursion after the crew had spent the evening in a pub in Tobermoray.  It was a very dark night and the grounding occurred one to two minutes after the RIB’s speed had been increased on clearing the harbour.

The investigation  identified several factors contributing to this fatal accident:

·              The lack of an effective lookout

·              The RIB’s speed

·              The ineffective use of the GPS mapper to plan and monitor the passage

·              The coxswain was navigating under the influence of alcohol

GHT actively encourages leisure users to consult this office if they have any queries relating to navigation in the harbour area or beyond