UPDATED: Wightlink operated their St Clare car ferry without its Certification of Class or Air Pollution Prevention Certificate for 8 days before staff realised the blunder, it has been revealed.
The former flagship vessel was unexpectedly pulled from service on 12th October due to a ‘technical fault’, causing 5-hour delays to the Fishbourne-Portsmouth route and significant disruption for thousands of people. Just a couple of days later Island Echo exclusively revealed that the vessel had in fact been withdrawn over a legal issue relating to certification.
The cross-Solent operator refused to answer Island Echo’s questions surrounding St Clare’s certification resulting in Islanders questioning exactly when the vital legal documents expired. However, the exact same questions have finally been answered after being directed to Wightlink through a letter from Isle of Wight MP, Bob Seely.
Wightlink’s Chief Executive, Keith Greenfield, has responded to Mr Seely confirming that 2 pieces of documentation – a Lloyds Register Certificate of Class and an Air Pollution Prevention Certificate – both expired on 5th October. These important documents make up part of the approved Safety Management System (SMS), which is a statutory obligation to have.
The information confirms that St Clare was operating for over a week without all of the elements of the approved Safety Management System.
Addressing the certification issue, Keith Greenfield said in his letter to the MP:
“Our error surrounding the certification of St Clare caused problems for many customers on Friday 12th October and I apologise for this mistake. In common with all passenger shipping companies, Wightlink has a staturory obligation to have an approved Safety Management System (SMS) to cover all operations. We have an SMS in place. In turn, our SMS require a valid Lloyds Register Certificate of Class for St Clare and it was this certificate (along with an Air Pollution Prevention Certficiate) which expired on 5 October due to an administrative error.
“This omission was flagged up by Wightlink staff on1 2th October and the ship was immediately removed from service. St Clare was inspected by Lloyds Register the following morning and the certificates were immediately re-issued without any defects needing to be remedied. The vessel’s Passenger Ship Safety Certificate and insurances remained valid throughout”.
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Mr Greenfield went on to say:
“It is completely unacceptable that this kind of error should have occurred and I have personally overseen changes to procedures to ensure it is not repeated.
“I and my colleagues at Wightlink are extremely sorry that this oversight caused so much disruption to our customers and front-line staff, especially in view of the progress made this year in improving our services. We have already apologised to everyone directly affected”.
In was in 2016 that the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch recommended that Wightlink review and, as necessary, improve its safety management system following the deck collapse on board St Helen.
UPDATE WEDNESDAY – Island Echo has approached the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to comment on whether or not Wightlink have, or will be, fined for failing to meet their statutory obligations.
A spokesperson for the MCA said:
“The MCA is still investigating this matter and we cannot provide any further comment at this stage”.
