The Department for Transport has published a consultation document to clamp down on dangerous driving of recreational and personal watercraft.
The Department for Transport has published a consultation document to modernise laws and clamp down on dangerous driving of jet skis to protect the public and coastal areas. The consultation will bring recreational and personal watercraft, such as jet-skis and speedboats, under the same laws as those who operate ships, meaning tougher sentences for those caught driving dangerously.
Under the current system, local authorities (LAs) have the power to regulate speed and nuisance driving through byelaws, with the power to fine those breaching the rules up to £1,000.
MAIB and DMAIB publish collaborative report on ECDIS use from the perspective of practitioners
The UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) and the Danish Maritime Accident Investigation Board (DMAIB) have published a comprehensive 94 page study focusing on the practical application and usability of ECDIS. The study follows a qualitative methodology, primarily based on semi-structured interviews with 155 ECDIS users and observation data gathered between February and July 2018 during sea voyages in European waters on 31 ships of various types.
NTSB Safer Seas Digest published and reveals 14 key findings from investigations in 2020
The latest NTSB Safer Seas Digest report includes lessons learned from US maritime incident investigations. Following analysis of 42 cases NTSB warns that new lithium-ion battery hazards can be every bit as deadly as the worst storms.
NTSB commented, “The real world is a peculiar academy. We hope that this collection of lessons learned in the investigations closed in 2020 helps readers to take a step back and view their own operation with a cold, critical eye, then return to their day-to-day routines ready to take the appropriate action.”
CE marking acceptance for boats extended until 2023 by UK government
The UK government has announced an extension to the start date for the new post-Brexit certification rules for CE products by 12 months. This extension means that the CE marking acceptance will continue to be recognised as a trademark into next year, after the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy agreed to push back the deadline for the UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) stamp until 1 January 2023.
A chain link used in the lifting equipment of a fishing vessel showing fractures identified during inspection
Following a number of near misses and accidents during lifting operations onboard UK fishing vessels, the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has published a safety bulletin, addressing concerns with lifting equipment.
It is a requirement of the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Lifting Equipment and Lifting Operations Regulations) 2006 (SI 2006/2184) that the owner and/or employer shall ensure all lifting equipment is thoroughly inspected, as a minimum, at least every 12 months with regular inspections in between. Depending on the findings of the Company risk assessment, in certain applications, the frequency of inspection may need to be increased. Specifically, the attention of the inspection regime, established by the owner, may need to be increased in areas of high load, high wear rates, and high impact. Continue reading “Safety bulletin issued by MCA over concerns with lifting equipment inspections on fishing vessels”
The UK regards itself as a leader on the world stage as far as preventing climate change is concerned. The UK has set a high standard so far showing the way with an impressive roadmap to cut its greenhouse gas emissions. It was the first country in the world to set statutory decarbonising reduction targets in its climate Change Act of 2008, and in 2019 passed a law on net-zero emissions.
In a new report, a group of NGOs – WWF UK, MarFishEco Fisheries Consultants, Marine Conservation Society and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) – have reviewed the UK fishing industry’s response to climate change mitigation. Shipping companies are already working hard to reduce their emissions, and the orders for retrofitting and design for energy-efficient ship propulsion systems is at an all-time high. It is likely the fishing industry will be the next focus.
Pathways to Zero is a new report from the RYA reacting to the climate change emergency
The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) has published Pathways to Zero: The RYA’s Vision for a Zero Carbon Recreational Boating Sector by 2050. It is an ambitious document and outlines the key actions and milestones that will need to be reached by both the organisation and the wider maritime sector to achieve the vision for zero-carbon in response to the climate emergency.
Karen Brain responds to Jeffrey Casciani-Wood about the use of reported dimensions in reports
In the June edition of the Report Magazine, Jeffrey Casciani-Wood submitted a letter to the editor and invited Karen Brain to give a comment on the following, when he wrote: ‘Perhaps the most common of the errors that I have seen over the years is the use of so-called reported dimensions, not measured ones. I should point out that the marine surveyor’s report is a legal document and therefore requires content that he/she has measured, weighed, tested, or examined, whatever, not what he/she has been told by a third party who may, or may not, have given him/her valid and correct information. Reported dimensions are hearsay and, as such, are not admissible in Court, except under very special circumstances.
Report published into the fatal sinking of the Globetrotter
At about 0800 on 31 May 2020, the 12m wooden-hulled recreational boat Globetrotter was found sinking in 5m of water during a sea-angling trip off the coast of Fleetwood, England. Its owner made a Mayday call shortly before he, his son, and a friend all entered the water. None of the sea anglers were wearing lifejackets or buoyancy aids, but they were able to use Globetrotter’s two lifebuoys to help them remain afloat.
IIMS set to roll out remote tonnage measurement training for small craft surveyors
A proposal by IIMS to extend its popular face-to-face tonnage measurement training into an innovative remote online format has been accepted and approved by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA). The innovative approach to delivering this training, which is open to both IIMS members and non-members, marks new ground for the Institute. The first online seminar will be delivered on 22 September from 10.00 (UK time).
To become formally authorized to process tonnages through IIMS you need to be a member, and Part I and Part II must be completed. Those who wish to study Part I only, the UK online tonnage measurement theory, may do so to extend their surveying knowledge.
A proposal by IIMS to extend its popular face-to-face tonnage measurement training into an innovative remote online format has been approved by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA). This training is available to both IIMS members and non-members. But to become formally authorized to process tonnages through IIMS, (where the Institute has registry agreements in place – see list below), Part I and Part II must be completed, and you need to be a member. Those who wish to study Part I only, UK tonnage measurement theory, may do so to extend their surveying knowledge.
IIMS is innovating using smart technology to deliver a new methodology of authorizing tonnage surveyors. IIMS is the first to be able to offer tonnage measurement theory training remotely to surveyors anywhere in the world who are involved with vessels up to 24 metres.
More than a fifth of fishing vessels subject to a random spot inspection have either been detained or prohibited from being used for fishing by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, being cited as fishing boat deficiencies. The targeted campaign saw surveyors from the MCA visiting ports in Scotland and the South West of England, inspecting 212 vessels at random.
All sizes of vessel were inspected during the unannounced inspections held across seven days in June. A total of 1,249 deficiencies or non-compliant items were found across all those inspected with just 14 being fully compliant with the regulations.
