Following the release of the MAIB’s report yesterday investigating the incident on board the hire boat motor cruiser, Diamond Emblem 1, on the Broads in August 2020, which tragically resulted in a fatal overboard accident, a number of recommendations have been made to stakeholders to minimise the risk of a tragedy of this nature happening again.
British Marine has supported the investigation and will be working with its inland hire associations, The Broads Hire Boat Federation and Inland Boating to enable those recommendations that have yet to be implemented.
One of the recommendations to come out of the report was for the Broads Authority to make the British Marine and VisitEngland Quality Accredited Boatyard (QAB) Scheme a requirement of the Broads Authority’s Hire Boat and Hire Operators licensing provisions in addition to its own internal inspection regime.
“We welcome the MAIB report and will be reviewing fully the findings and recommendations and engaging with our members and other stakeholders to understand what actions we can take to support them and how we can work together to stop this kind of horrific accident happening again the future,” said Lesley Robinson, CEO British Marine.
“Should the Broads Authority implement the recommendation we will work closely with them to ensure the smooth implementation of the QAB scheme as recommended by the MAIB in this report. We would also encourage all hire boat operators to read the report in its entirety and review their own procedures in order to learn from this tragic incident.”
The British Marine Quality Accredited Boatyard scheme, in partnership with VisitEngland, has been running in its current guise for over eight years, it provides an independent audit of a company’s procedures and processes and indicates that hire boat operators are committed to quality and provides recognition for their operations.
“The QAB scheme is an industry lead scheme developed to support hire boat operators. It is important for us all to constantly review and improve our products and services to ensure people stay safe on the water and we hope that moving forward the recommendations made by the MAIB will ensure no more tragedies of this nature happen in the future,” concluded Lesley.
The Incident: On 19 August 2020, Laura Perry, a member of a family group on board the motor cruiser Diamond Emblem 1 fell overboard from the aft deck when the boat’s stern made hard contact against the embankment wall opposite the Great Yarmouth Yacht Station. She became entangled in rope and the propeller, suffering multiple injuries that resulted in her drowning.
All British Marine members offering hire boats are required to be accredited under the QAB scheme.
View the full MAIB report at https://www.gov.uk/maib-reports/person-overboard-from-motor-cruiser-diamond-emblem-1-with-loss-of-1-life
For more information about the BritishMarine/VisitEngland Quality Accredited Boatyard scheme visithttps://britishmarine.co.uk/Services/Growth/Quality-Schemes/Quality-Accredited-Boatyard-Scheme
