Fishing vessel owner fined for breaching small fishing vessel rules

The owner of a small fishing vessel has been fined a total of £15,628 after being prosecuted by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency for operating an unsafe vessel and failing to comply with the small fishing vessel code of practice.
   
John Lake, director of John Lake Shellfish Ltd of Kings Lynn and owner of the 13-metre fishing vessel ‘Audrey Patricia’, appeared at Kings Lynn Magistrates Court today (25 July) where he pleaded guilty to both offences. Mr Lake was fined £4,500 for each offence, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £170 and £6,458 towards the cost of the prosecution.

The vessel had been subject to a pre-arranged inspection by the MCA at Boston and was found to have a catalogue of deficiencies related to emergency procedures and lifesaving equipment, which resulted in the vessel being detained. The deficiencies included emergency drills not being carried out by the crew, liferaft being nearly 4 years beyond its service date, missing and out of date emergency flares, fire extinguishers out of date, insufficient serviceable lifejackets and emergency fuel shut off not working. It was clear the vessel had been neglected by its owner and was not in a safe condition to go to sea. The vessel was being used as part of Mr Lake’s shellfish business.

In sentencing the magistrates commented that these were serious matters considering what might have happened.

MCA Surveyor Matt Turner who had inspected the vessel said:  ‘The condition of this vessel, as an operating fishing vessel, was wholly unacceptable. The owner had failed in his responsibility of ensuring the vessel was in a safe condition to put to sea and comply with the small fishing vessel codes of practice. This failure had put the vessel and its crew at unnecessary risk, the consequences of which could have left Mr Lake facing more serious charges. The MCA is determined, with our stakeholders, to improve the safety of fishermen. Owners who fail in their responsibilities in this way will be prosecuted.’

Popular posts from this blog

PRESTWICK SEARCH AND RESCUE HELICOPTER SERVICE LAUNCH MARKED IN CEREMONY

Image
- Prestwick search and rescue helicopter base set to go live in January - The launch of the Prestwick civilian UK search and rescue (SAR) helicopter service was marked today (Thursday 17 December 2015) in a ceremony held at the new Coastguard SAR base at Prestwick Airport. Bristow Helicopters Ltd is operating the search and rescue helicopter service for the UK on behalf of HM Coastguard. The UK limited company was awarded the ten-year UK SAR contract by the Department for Transport in March 2013, representing a £1.9bn investment by the UK Government in the UK’s search and rescue helicopter service. By 2017 the service will be delivered from ten bases in all, strategically located close to areas of high SAR incident rates. The Prestwick base will begin SAR operations when crews begin receiving taskings from the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) in January 2016. Bristow crews are delivering the UK SAR helicopter service on behalf of HM Coastguard with state-of-the-a...
Read more

Coastguard scoops stricken man from surging waves

Image
Senior Coastal Operations Officer Ryan Gray A man facing the threat of being dashed on the rocks by powerful waves was rescued by a coastguard who hauled him o ut of the surging water.   The alarm was raised at about 9.45am at Skippingstone beach, Bangor, on 1 October when a member of the public reported their concern for a person they had spotted struggling on rocks being pounded by the s e a .   The 999 call was picked up at Belfast Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre which swiftly sent Bangor Coastguard Rescue Team (CRT) and the local RNLI inshore lifeboat.   First on the scene was Senior Coastal Operations Officer Ryan Gray who, taking in the situation, quic k ly donned a personal float at ion device a ttached to a line.   As the sea surged, Ryan shouted a warning to the man before, seconds later , a wave picked the figure up and threw him to the shore.   The powerful surge carried him up the beach where Ryan was able to step forward and seiz...
Read more

BOSCASTLE FLOODS: TEN YEARS ON

Image
Boscastle Flooding 16 th August 2004 The storms of Monday 16 August 2004 saw three weeks worth of rain fall in one day. The resulting water began to be funnelled down the valleys surrounding Boscastle and soon the steep roads became rivers. By the time that the water reached the picturesque village, it had picked up enough momentum to become a raging torrent, sweeping into buildings, washing cars away and felling huge trees. Graham King runs the Witches Museum in Boscastle and was also the station officer for the Boscastle Coastguard Rescue Team at the time of the floods: “ My museum is situated next to the harbour near the river ,” says Graham “ and I can see the coastguard equipment store from there. Initially I was concerned that the vehicle and equipment were going to become stranded but I soon began to realise how quickly the situation was deteriorating and called Falmouth Coastguard ” From that point on the villagers and tourists stranded in flood waters were he...
Read more