Sunk boat had been wrongly assessed, report finds

A survey boat that sank had been wrongly classified as suitable for work at sea, a report into the incident has concluded.

The Bella sank while surveying waters around Lynmouth in Devon, in July 2021.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) found it had been assessed as a decked vessel, when it should have been considered an open vessel.

The skipper and crew member were rescued by local boat users uninjured.

The Bella had previously been used for inland water survey work in the Solent, Lowestoft and the Norfolk Broads, but this was its first task at sea.

The incident happened at about 1500 BST on 6 July 2021, as the pair started surveying work in conditions described as choppy.

The vessel started taking on water, and the skipper put out a Mayday! call when it became at risk of sinking.

There was no response so they called 999 for the coastguard, by which time the boat was swamped, and the emergency life raft was launched.

The skipper and crew member entered the sea and scrambled into the inflated life-raft while wearing lifejackets.

A local boat user then moved to the scene, and rescued the two people from the water.

They were taken to hospital but discharged later in the day without any treatment needed.

The boat was later found by divers on 19 July.

The report concluded: "Despite being issued with the necessary certification, Bella was not compliant with The Workboat Code; shortcomings in construction and means of flotation were missed during the certifying survey due to the surveyor's overreliance on RCD (Recreational Craft Directive) documentation."

It also found the team had "almost certainly underestimated the risk of Bella flooding and swamping as they had no recent experience of operating in the open sea and had become accustomed to operating in sheltered waters with low sea states."

As a result of the incident the Yacht Designers and Surveyors Association Limited has updated its survey forms and certificates, audited its survey records for similar vessels and introduced an examination process for its surveyors.

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