MAIB report into fatal collision St.Mawes

[Shaggy]

Report on the tragic collision between Carrie Kate and Kets, resulting in one fatality near Castle Point, St Mawes, Cornwall on 16 July 2005.

http://www.maib.gov.uk/publications/..._kate_kets.cfm

MAIB has made the the following recommendation to DfT:

“
As a result of the recent MAIB investigation into the high speed grounding of the
powerboat Sea Snake, which resulted in the loss of three lives, and this investigation, a
recommendation has been made to the Department for Transport (DfT) concerning the
3
introduction of an alcohol limit for leisure users. The DfT is also recommended to
improve the harbour bye-law approval process. The local harbour authorities have been
recommended to review the standard of leisure boat activities in their area.
“


Shaggy

[Jimbob]

How sad for the people at home

did i read it correctly that seeing the boat dead ahead he turned to port

plenty to learn from this,

[Richard B]

Originally Posted by Jimbob

did i read it correctly that seeing the boat dead ahead he turned to port...

...that's the way I understand it. Helluva price to pay for not turning to starb'd.

[ADS]

What a waste of a life down to lack of nav lights and the fact the helmsmen were pissed.

[Scary Des]

I must say that the report is very thorough but doesn’t support the extracted conclusions.

Although I am sure that alcohol didn’t help is wasn’t the cause, no lights, lack of training and knowledge seems to me to be more of an issue.

Des

[DGR]

The sun set at 2123, and civil and nautical twilights occurred at 2205 and 2303 respectively.

Does anyone know why there is a difference between the 'civil' and 'nautical' twilight times?

I had thought that 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise was defined as 'nightime' (i.e. not daytime operations) by the MCA - is this right?

Dylan...

[ADS]

Originally Posted by Scary Des

I must say that the report is very thorough but doesn’t support the extracted conclusions.

Although I am sure that alcohol didn’t help is wasn’t the cause, no lights, lack of training and knowledge seems to me to be more of an issue.

Des

"The helmsman of Kets had been a fisherman for 11 years. Having grown up and fished
out of St Mawes, he was very familiar with the local waters"
"Ben Cochrane, aged 30, had grown up near the sea and it had played a large
part of his life. He left school at the age of 16 to start fishing with his father,
before working for 11 years on a small trawler based at St Mawes. After that,
Ben returned to work with his father on their ‘under 10m’ vessel for 2 years.
Ben was very familiar with the local waters, was a keen gig rower and, before
owning Kets, had been known to row between St Mawes and Falmouth. He
had attended all four of the mandatory fishing safety courses: fire-fighting, sea survival and first-aid in April 1998, and the safety awareness course in
September 2002.
Carrie Kate's helmsman, aged 30, had operated powerboats with his family from an early age, for both water skiing and general recreation, but had limited experience of navigating at night. In 1999, he moved from Cornwall to the Isles of Scilly, and began working for a local company as a crewman on a passenger ferry. After completing a practical examination, he obtained an ‘EE’ qualification
(see Annex A for Isles of Scilly certification structure) issued by the Isles of
Scilly Council on 28 April 2000. This enabled him to crew on larger passenger
ferries around the Isles of Scilly and also to bring the ferry alongside the quay
when no passengers were onboard. Having accrued sufficient experience, and
after a further assessment, he obtained a ‘DD’ qualification in July 2003. This
allowed him to helm vessels with fewer than 12 passengers onboard, from quay to quay, from an hour before sunrise until an hour after sunset. After obtaining this qualification, he continued to act as a crewman on the larger ferries but,
when required, would helm one of the company’s smaller ferries which carried
only 12 passengers."

Alcohol was a factor, but neither of the helms could be classed as boating beginners, both had a reasonable, above average level of experience, both being involved in commercial aspects of the marine industry.

[Andy Gee]

Originally Posted by ADS

"The helmsman of Kets had been a fisherman for 11 years. Having grown up and fished
out of St Mawes, he was very familiar with the local waters"
"Ben Cochrane, aged 30, had grown up near the sea and it had played a large
part of his life. He left school at the age of 16 to start fishing with his father,
before working for 11 years on a small trawler based at St Mawes. After that,
Ben returned to work with his father on their ‘under 10m’ vessel for 2 years.
Ben was very familiar with the local waters, was a keen gig rower and, before
owning Kets, had been known to row between St Mawes and Falmouth. He
had attended all four of the mandatory fishing safety courses: fire-fighting, sea survival and first-aid in April 1998, and the safety awareness course in
September 2002.
Carrie Kate's helmsman, aged 30, had operated powerboats with his family from an early age, for both water skiing and general recreation, but had limited experience of navigating at night. In 1999, he moved from Cornwall to the Isles of Scilly, and began working for a local company as a crewman on a passenger ferry. After completing a practical examination, he obtained an ‘EE’ qualification
(see Annex A for Isles of Scilly certification structure) issued by the Isles of
Scilly Council on 28 April 2000. This enabled him to crew on larger passenger
ferries around the Isles of Scilly and also to bring the ferry alongside the quay
when no passengers were onboard. Having accrued sufficient experience, and
after a further assessment, he obtained a ‘DD’ qualification in July 2003. This
allowed him to helm vessels with fewer than 12 passengers onboard, from quay to quay, from an hour before sunrise until an hour after sunset. After obtaining this qualification, he continued to act as a crewman on the larger ferries but,
when required, would helm one of the company’s smaller ferries which carried
only 12 passengers."

Alcohol was a factor, but neither of the helms could be classed as boating beginners, both had a reasonable, above average level of experience, both being involved in commercial aspects of the marine industry.

And driving a boat at night with-out adequate lights .
Andy

[jwalker]

Originally Posted by Andy Gee

And driving a boat at night with-out adequate lights .

Yup, agreed. That's the one that did it. It's virtually impossible to see a boat in the dark at any reasonable distance.

Around this area, illegal fishing goes on at night. I see them on the radar but they're invisible to the eye.

[Jimbob]

Lots of reason for this as stated, my view

1) Drink as in a car does not help and a no-no if your the skipper
2) Safe speed - to take J walkers point about lights
3) Lights
4) Turn to port, which brings me back to point one

As i say my view, only one missing is kill cord, ho and safety equipment, bingo full house