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At a hearing at Horse Ferry Road Magistrates Court the owner/skipper of a 45ft yacht, called ‘Scintilla’, was found guilty on five charges arising from two voyages; two for not having the appropriate Certificate of Competence to take charge of the yacht; two for not having Load Line Certification for the yacht, and one for breaching a Prohibition Notice. The charges were brought by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, an Executive Agency of the Department for Transport, following complaints received in relation to the illegitimate charter operation.
Mr Francois Haussauer, aged 52, had been commercially operating his home built yacht in the South of France for a niche naturist market. He promoted the charter holiday to the British public via the internet, a Channel 5 film and publicity brochures. He offered `Scintilla’ on a skippered charter basis and took paying passengers to sea without the required certification of a charter vessel.
The safety regulations that cover such craft are contained in the MCA Code of Practice known as the Blue Code, and are intended to protect the public by ensuring, amongst other things, that the correct safety equipment, watertight integrity and stability and crew competence is in place.
The court heard how Mr Haussauer failed to comply with the regulations even after numerous attempts by the MCA to educate and inform him of the requirements. `Scintilla’ was chartered with intent despite Mr Haussauer’s knowledge that it would violate the safety regulations.
Upon sentencing the District Judge told the court that he did not believe Mr Haussauer’s attempt to pass off paying customers as “friends”. Before sentencing he said, “This was a commercial enterprise and the statutory exemptions do not apply.”
Mr Haussauer was fined a total of £4,500 and costs were awarded to the MCA.
Claude Hamilton, Head of Code Vessel Safety Branch for the MCA said: “Fare-paying passengers on a British ship have the right to expect high safety standards and it is our duty to prevent sub-standard and illegal operations. The MCA does not issue prohibition notices without good cause and all violations are investigated.”
from BYM news.
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Mr Francois Haussauer, aged 52, had been commercially operating his home built yacht in the South of France for a niche naturist market. He promoted the charter holiday to the British public via the internet, a Channel 5 film and publicity brochures. He offered `Scintilla’ on a skippered charter basis and took paying passengers to sea without the required certification of a charter vessel.
The safety regulations that cover such craft are contained in the MCA Code of Practice known as the Blue Code, and are intended to protect the public by ensuring, amongst other things, that the correct safety equipment, watertight integrity and stability and crew competence is in place.
The court heard how Mr Haussauer failed to comply with the regulations even after numerous attempts by the MCA to educate and inform him of the requirements. `Scintilla’ was chartered with intent despite Mr Haussauer’s knowledge that it would violate the safety regulations.
Upon sentencing the District Judge told the court that he did not believe Mr Haussauer’s attempt to pass off paying customers as “friends”. Before sentencing he said, “This was a commercial enterprise and the statutory exemptions do not apply.”
Mr Haussauer was fined a total of £4,500 and costs were awarded to the MCA.
Claude Hamilton, Head of Code Vessel Safety Branch for the MCA said: “Fare-paying passengers on a British ship have the right to expect high safety standards and it is our duty to prevent sub-standard and illegal operations. The MCA does not issue prohibition notices without good cause and all violations are investigated.”
from BYM news.
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