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The decision to sail Last Call in the prevailing conditions was ill conceived. Without a basic level of seamanship and navigational knowledge, no one on board the boat was able to judge the limitations of Last Call, or recognise the dangers they faced. The investigation found that: The skipper's and crew's lack of training and qualification in the use and operation of small craft contributed significantly to the accident. VHF Having imported Last Call from the USA , Andrew Carrick assumed that the VHF set supplied with the boat was incompatible with UK frequencies. However, marine VHF frequency allocation is common throughout the world. Although some nations do allocate additional frequencies and channels for specific purposes, the equipment fitted to Last Call was, by virtue of frequency allocation, compatible with its UK equivalent. However, it is unlikely that the VHF set carried a CE mark, the vessel did not have a licence for a VHF set, and no one on board was qualified to use it. As a result, it would have been illegal to operate the VHF equipment within the EU. The presence of an appropriate and operational VHF set, tuned to either VHF Channel 16 or the port's working frequency, Channel 11, would have been a significant safety barrier, which, on this occasion, had been removed. Had an operational set been available, and turned on, there was a good possibility that the crew would have heard the VHF calls made from the local lifeboat station and amended their plans accordingly. However, Andrew Carrick had not attended a VHF short range operator's course, and so was unaware of the capabilities and limitations of the equipment fitted to his vessel, or of the legal requirements for its operation. Read more....... |
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