Collision "Pride of Kent" - sailing boat

[Davethesailor]

So it is no longer owned by P & O then???

The Spirit of France and Spirit of Britain's mortgages were held in a French bank so originally those were to be the only ones flagged out then they decided to flag them all out, in doing so it gave the crews a pay rise as they now pay a self employed National insurance rate of £156 per year

 

[penfold]

If it was 18km about from Calais it may well have been in international waters (12miles = 19km). Which would make sense for a dutch boat transiting, but as others have asked; is one obliged by current covid rules to not stray inside the international limit?

I'm pretty sure CV19 doesn't impact the right to innocent passage, although I'm sure the russians might argue the toss if you wanted to enter or leave the sea of Azov.

 

[Iliade]

Absence of illumination was not mentioned in the first article(s) (or I missed it if it was.) But that still doesn't make them in breach of French Covid regs...

 

[Davethesailor]

Absence of illumination was not mentioned in the first article(s) (or I missed it if it was.) But that still doesn't make them in breach of French Covid regs...

It makes them in breach of the collision regulations, try looking them up

 

[Iliade]

That is as may be, but the thread was about the French Covid Rules...

 

[penfold]

The title mentions a collision but no CV19; it's about COLREGS.

 

[Iliade]

I'll just post the original article, as currently online and translated to English, here now, because it has already been amended to say 18km rather than the 'about ten' it originally said. I am sure of this because I had to look it up: 'une dizain.'

There is no mention of nav lights, but there was a comment to the effect that they shouldn't have been there because of French covid regulations:

After the collision between a sailboat and a P&O ship off Calais, the investigation entrusted to the maritime gendarmerie
A ferry from the P&O company and a sailboat with three people on board collided 18 kilometers from Calais, on the night of Friday 23 to Saturday 24 April 2021. Fortunately, no waterway was observed and only one passenger was slightly injured.
An investigation was entrusted to the maritime gendarmerie to determine the causes of this accident which could have been dramatic and to designate the possible persons responsible.

The event is extremely rare to be underlined. Shortly before four o'clock on the night of Friday 23 to Saturday 24 April 2021, the Gris-Nez Regional Operational Surveillance and Rescue Center (CROSS) received a call from Pride of Kent , a ferry from the P&O company providing connections between Dover and Calais.

The enormous 180-meter-long ship has just collided with a Dutch sailboat about 18 kilometers off Calais, in circumstances which remain to be determined. On board the monohull, three people, one of whom was slightly injured following the accident.

Towing by the French Navy
Fortunately, no waterway is observed and the integrity of the hull has been miraculously preserved. However, the sailboat needs to be towed since the farmhouse has broken.
Present in the area, the public service patroller Flament of the French Navy was immediately dispatched to the site, while the nurse on board provided first aid to the injured passenger. Almost six hours later, the damaged sailboat arrived at the port of Calais and docked at 10:50 am.

[official report]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1385894462749134848

Investigation entrusted to the maritime gendarmerie
What was a sailboat doing at 3:50 a.m. at sea in the midst of a confinement period, when navigation must stop - unless an exemption issued by the prefecture - as soon as the curfew is put in place at 7 p.m.?

 

[Mister E]

I don't understand the "needs to be towed because the farmhouse was broken.".
Do they mean Wheelhouse I wonder?

 

[Frogmogman]

I don't understand the "needs to be towed because the farmhouse was broken.".
Do they mean Wheelhouse I wonder?

?

In the original article, there is a typo; they have put mas instead of mat for mast.

Mas is the name for a Provençal farmhouse.

While we’re on auto mis-translate, voie d’eau (ingress of water) has been translated as waterway.

 

[Biggles Wader]

The allegation has been made here that the boat was sailing at night with no lights. Seems to be the crux of the matter. Anyone know if that is true?

 

[Frogmogman]

?

In the original article, there is a typo; they have put mas instead of mat for mast.

Mas is the name for a Provençal farmhouse.

While we’re on auto mis-translate, voie d’eau (ingress of water) has been translated as waterway.

Reminds me of one of my favourite auto mis-translations, when Alex Thomson crashed into Guadeloupe, much of the UK press, using auto-translation of the original race press release, printed that Alex was accompanied to the finish line by a star of the SNSM.

I think all of the SNSM (French lifeboat service) are stars, but in this case vedette means lifeboat.

 

[Leighb]

If as it says they were 18km offshore, then surely they were outside French Territorial waters? If so then they were a Dutch flagged vessel on innocent passage in International waters and the French COVID rules were irrelevant. If the collision occurred between Calais and Dover, as one might assume as it was a Cross Channel ferry, then there are no International waters, as the Channel is only 22 miles wide and thus less than two lots of 12?

 

[Koeketiene]

If as it says they were 18km offshore, then surely they were outside French Territorial waters? If so then they were a Dutch flagged vessel on innocent passage in International waters and the French COVID rules were irrelevant. If the collision occurred between Calais and Dover, as one might assume as it was a Cross Channel ferry, then there are no International waters, as the Channel is only 22 miles wide and thus less than two lots of 12?

I am not a math wizzard, but 18 km is 9.7NM.
Even if the incident took place at the narrowest point of the Dover Straits, that still put them well within French territorial waters.

 

[Leighb]

I am not a math wizzard, but 18 km is 9.7NM.
Even if the incident took place at the narrowest point of the Dover Straits, that still put them well within French territorial waters.

My bad, altho' I reckon a bit more, nearer 11 .8 statute miles, not sure if the Territorial limit is 12 Statute Miles or 12 Nautical Miles, can anyone clarify?

 

[penfold]

None of which matters due to the right of innocent passage, except maybe if the yacht was french flagged which it was not.

 

[Koeketiene]

None of which matters due to the right of innocent passage, except maybe if the yacht was french flagged which it was not.

The right of innocent passage is not quite as absolute as you may think.
The coastal state can impose restrictions 'for the public good'.

This reason was used by the French government for restricting the use of pleasure craft during lockdown.

 

[penfold]

For leisure purposes maybe; if the boat is being delivered then it isn't pleasure.