Small Craft News

Announcing Roy McFarlane as Britain’s new Canal Laureate 2022

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Together with the Poetry Society, the Canal & River Trust is delighted to announce the appointment of Roy McFarlane as Britain’s new Canal Laureate 2022.

Poet Roy grew up in Birmingham and the Black Country, surrounded by canals. He says: “I lived, played and loved by canals and rivers and am looking forward to recapturing those stories; tales of diverse communities in urban settings who lived with canals in their backyard.”

Roy began his role as Canal Laureate 2022 in December 2021, following in the wake of poets Nancy Campbell (Canal Laureate 2018-9), 2021 Continue reading “Announcing Roy McFarlane as Britain’s new Canal Laureate 2022”

Recent MCA documentation amendments released in December 2021

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The UK maritime regulator, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA), has issued and distributed the following new documentation over the past few weeks.

02 December 2021
SI 2021 No. 1316 – The Merchant Shipping (Radiocommunications) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
View details Continue reading “Recent MCA documentation amendments released in December 2021”

Sunseeker set to adopt Module F scheme of certification across its range

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Sunseeker International is to adopt the Module F scheme of certification
Sunseeker International is to adopt the Module F scheme of certification

Sunseeker International is to adopt the Module F scheme of certification for its range, believed to be the first UK boatbuilder to adopt the endorsement. All of Sunseeker’s models will be certified by RINA by the end of 2022.

The certification is approved under the Recreational Craft Directive (2013/53/EU) and will apply to the boatbuilder’s entire range by the end of 2022.

For vessels between 12m and 24m, the certification will require two modules of assessment to be applied for. Sunseeker has appointed notified body RINA to carry out the work.

“Going beyond the minimum requirements of the Recreational Craft Directive, to involve a higher level of scrutiny from a third party, demonstrates Sunseeker’s commitment to achieving the highest level of compliance and production quality; ultimately it’s about delivering excellence, to remain best- in-class,” said Ewen Foster, Sunseeker chief technical officer. Continue reading “Sunseeker set to adopt Module F scheme of certification across its range”

Lack of risk assessment contributes to sinking of fishing vessel says MCIB report

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The Marine Casualty Investigation Board of Ireland (MCIB) has published its report on the sinking of FV Aztec, which took place off Duncannon on 11 January 2021.

The FV Aztec sailed from Duncannon Pier, Co. Wexford to fish sprat in Waterford Estuary alongside its paired trawler the “FV Western Dawn”. There was no risk assessment or method statement for this type of fishing arrangement included in the vessel’s safety statement.

The FV Aztec shot its net first and hauled fish at 09.30 hrs. These fish were stowed in pounds in the fish hold divided by boards. It was Continue reading “Lack of risk assessment contributes to sinking of fishing vessel says MCIB report”

USCG plans to issue interim rules to improve small passenger vessel safety post dive boat tragedy

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Image credit: Ventura County Fire Department
Image credit: Ventura County Fire Department

The U.S. Coast Guard has announced its intention to issue a set of interim rules on certain covered small passenger vessels, the first step to implementing the statutorily mandated requirement. The interim rule is in response to the fire and loss of life on the dive boat Conception off the coast of California on 2 September 2019.

This interim rule adds additional fire safety requirements for small passenger vessels, including fire detection and suppression systems, avenues of escape, egress drills, crew firefighting training, watchmen monitoring devices, and the handling of flammable items such as rechargeable batteries. Continue reading “USCG plans to issue interim rules to improve small passenger vessel safety post dive boat tragedy”

New VAT legislation is good news for UK boat owners

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The UK government has confirmed that from 1 January 2022, recreational boat owners will not be required to pay a second amount of UK VAT if their vessels have been outside the UK for more than three years.

Boat owners returning their vessels to the UK can claim relief from import VAT under returned goods relief (RGR) if they meet all the conditions for the relief. One of these conditions is that the goods or effects must normally be re-imported into the UK within three years of the original date of export. Continue reading “New VAT legislation is good news for UK boat owners”

New one-shot publication from IIMS: 2021 Safety & Loss Prevention Briefings Compendium

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The International Institute of Marine Surveying has published a special new one-shot, 100-page publication, entitled the IIMS 2021 Safety & Loss Prevention Briefings Compendium.

Download the compendium: 2021 Safety Loss Prevention Briefings Compendium

The broad aim of this compendium is to showcase incident and accident reports, and loss prevention measures/guidance that were issued in 2021, all easily accessible in one pdf document. Much of the content is distressing and covers carnage, destruction and sadly deaths. This new publication is an essential reference resource for any marine surveyor’s online library as well as those whose work touches the surveying profession and for the wider maritime world. The many links in the publication are clickable, meaning readers can easily access more details about an item of particular interest.

Introductions by Yves Vandenborn, Director of Loss Prevention at Standard P&I Club and Geoff Waddington, IIMS President, add informative and valuable context to the publication. Continue reading “New one-shot publication from IIMS: 2021 Safety & Loss Prevention Briefings Compendium”

50 Vessels join the Fishing First Safety Management Project

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The Seafarers’ Charity is pleased to report that the project to develop safety management onboard fishing vessels to the standard of the Fishing Safety Management (FSM) Code is well underway.

The new service called Fishing First Safety Management System by SafetyFolder, is being developed to improve safety in the UK fishing fleet and, at the same time, increase supply chain transparency.

50 fishing vessels have joined the project which started in the South West of England and are receiving professional support to develop Continue reading “50 Vessels join the Fishing First Safety Management Project”

The Canal & River Trust has begun a trial of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel in its workboats

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Photo courtesy Canal & River Trust
Photo courtesy Canal & River Trust

The fuel is being seen as a greener alternative for boats and boating businesses with the Trust pointing out the adoption of fuels such as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) will reduce carbon emissions from the boat engines while not requiring changes in either engines or supply infrastructure.

“On the waterways, we hope that hydrotreated vegetable oil will provide a ‘quick win,’ a more sustainable, cost-friendly swap that will enable boaters and boating businesses to easily reduce their emissions,” said Matthew Symonds, Trust national boating manager. “The trial of the fuel in our workboat fleet will provide valuable information on practicalities and performance.” Continue reading “The Canal & River Trust has begun a trial of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel in its workboats”

Surveyors beware some diesel heater installations

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Surveyors beware some diesel heater installations
Surveyors beware some diesel heater installations

Recent contact with someone has brought to attention a problem regarding a fault causing potentially life-threatening fumes from his boat’s diesel heater. The heater in question is an Eberspacher for which cheap imported spares are available on the internet. The part in question was a replacement fuel pump which he bought online. Click here to see an example. The part was manufactured in China and on the face of it appears to be very much the genuine article, but there was no CE marking identifiable. The product description stated, “Good replacement – Based on the original factory specifications, a direct replacement for the old or broken one.” Continue reading “Surveyors beware some diesel heater installations”

UK Office for Product Safety & Standards has released new statutory guidance updates

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UK Office for Product Safety & Standards has released new statutory guidance updates
UK Office for Product Safety & Standards has released new statutory guidance updates

The UK Office for Product Safety and Standards has updated a number of Statutory Guidance documents, which are all applicable to the marine industry for both Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The individual documents can be downloaded by following the links below. The list of guidance that has been updated and is now applicable and in force is as follows: Continue reading “UK Office for Product Safety & Standards has released new statutory guidance updates”

Specialist aluminum boatbuilder recognised

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The UK’s Wight Shipyard Co, a specialist aluminum boatbuilder, has been formally presented with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade. The award was presented by Mrs Susie Sheldon JP, Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight, to Peter Morton, Chief Executive of The Wight Shipyard Co. in a ceremony at the thriving yard in East Cowes. The award was in particular recognition of their outstanding short-term growth in the export market. Continue reading “Specialist aluminum boatbuilder recognised”

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