Rescued,like it or not.

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Why should MAIB get involved - their remit is to investigate serious or potentially serious incidents, by no stretch of the imagination does this qualify.


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The incident may not have been serious, but the act of invoking powers under SOSREP would trigger an investigation, usually by the MAIB but the MCA may be playing this one close to their chest...

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I thought it rested with the master of a vessel whether to accept a tow or not?

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Which is why the SOSREP function was created. Vessels were lost, and pollution ocurred, because masters left it too late to accept, or their companies had such a long response structure that the master felt unable to accept assistance in time to save the vessel.
SOSEP system may be flawed, but it's better than nothing... the system was, in fact, first put in place by the French following the Amoco Cadiz.
 
Wasn't that the Penlee disaster?
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Nop.........He is referring to The Flying Enterprise and Captain Carleson. I believe there was a mate from a tug boat on board latterly by name of Dancy. The tug Turmoil eventually took them in tow.

The Story

Penlee was later but as you say
Penlee
 
I think if you read the link, it will tell you about the Union Castle, the vessel that refused the tow and prompted the legislation we have all been reading about.
 
No, the powers of intervention were NOT initiated after the Union Star.
My earlier statement is correct - the first model of this type of intervention outside the US was initiated by the French, following the Amoco Cadiz incident of 1978 (Penlee was 1981). However, coastguard managed salvage and intervention powers outside TSS's were not introduced at this time.
What prompted the major changes in maritime SAR, including the provision of CG funded tugs around the UK, was Lord Donaldson's report into the Braer grounding / sinking in 1993 in Shetland. This also laid down the parameters for intervention.

None of which, of course, applies to small yachts sailing around the coast of Essex!
 
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I thought it rested with the master of a vessel whether to accept a tow or not?
There was a famous incident in the 50s I think when the crew of a freighter whose engine had failed in heavy weather had been taken off, but the captain stubbornly refused assistance or a tow because then rival tugs would have got the salvage money. He was hanging on until the company tug arrived. The story reached the national media, with pictures of this heroic lone figure in oilskins while the vultures circled.

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Try the Union Star in 1981 which led to the loss of both ship and Penlee lifeboat with all hands.

Loss of 'Solomon Browne'
 
Since there have been several requests for reports on this incident, a quick search leads to the version published by the RNLI http://www.padstow-lifeboat.org.uk/LaunchesCurrent.htm. Look for the entries for 25th June 2007.

The yacht skipper, whom I know, is too gentlemanly and quiet to make a fuss but from what he has said then the launch report is grossly innaccurate. He was preparing a second anchor,and was able to motor out if he wished. He did NOT request rescue, and he tried to wave the lifeboat off. The lifeboat hit his boat hard, causing extensive damage, then returned and collided again, throwing him into the water between the hulls where he feared he was going to be crushed. This resulted in a genuine rescue situation which had been entirely manufactured by the lifeboat.

The temporary snubbing line he had rigged while getting the second anchor out then chafed through, and the yacht dragged over the Doom Bar, where it was wrecked on the opposite shore.

I am NOT criticising the rescue services for their dedication and help, but sometimes I think individuals probably believe "they know best", and won't take no for an answer
 
No emergency service in the UK can be sued for inaction, only for negligence arising from actions taken. There is ample case law (para 2) demonstrating that a duty of care only arises once intervention at an incident begins.
 
And how does that follow from the Merchant Shipping Acts, which specify penalties up to two years imprisonment for a Master who fails to provide assistance in cases of distress? Not just the emergency services, but any vessel. (Read the Annual Summary of Notices to Mariners; from memory, it's Notice 6 or 7)
 
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