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RNLI's broadside after alert over ferry passenger

9:00am Friday 11th January 2008

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A LIFEBOAT charity has called on Red Funnel to review the way it counts passengers on and off its vessels.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution said the company should conduct the review after a full-scale search for a missing passenger was launched in the Solent yesterday, only to be called off when the man was found safe and well on the Isle of Wight.

Amy Ross, RNLI spokesman for the south-east, said: "This is definitely a matter for Red Funnel to look into. These rescues cost a huge amount of money due to the number of services involved.

"Red Funnel needs to look into the way it counts passengers on and off its ferries."

The man, in his 20s, got on the Red Osprey ferry at 7am yesterday in Southampton but appeared not to disembark on arrival in Cowes at 8.06am.

Solent Coastguard was alerted after a search of the Red Funnel ship.

A coastguard helicopter and lifeboats were scrambled, but the search was called off when he turned up on the Isle of Wight.

It appears he went on as a foot passenger, met a friend on board who had a car and disembarked in his vehicle.

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Andy, Locks Heath says...
9:08am Fri 11 Jan 08

Here's an idea - just stop counting them. This is just another unnecessary bureaucratic waste of time dreamt up by a Health and Safety official who couldn't think of anything else in order to justify his job. Don't forget we always end up footing the bill for these daft schemes and by supreme irony, the idiotic oversized department that dreams them up.
Anyone who has travelled on an Isle of Wight ferry knows that it is is impossible for an adult to fall overboard unless he or she wants to and we don;t need the HSE to tell us that children should always have a responsible guardian with them anyway.

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Gozza, On the Ferry says...
9:15am Fri 11 Jan 08

Maritime operators are regulated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency - the HSE have nothing to do with their sea-going operations.

The count isn't really in case someone falls overboard, it's in case the ferry sinks - they have to know how many were on board so they know whether everyone is accounted for after a sinking.

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Andy, Locks Heath says...
9:33am Fri 11 Jan 08

Thanks for putting me right Gozza. I note though that on this occasion the ferry didn't sink!

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pete, netley says...
10:41am Fri 11 Jan 08

How about getting the ferry operator to foot the bill for a call-out such as this? That would encourage greater care in the counting process!

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Mr Credulous, says...
10:55am Fri 11 Jan 08

Andy wrote:
Thanks for putting me right Gozza. I note though that on this occasion the ferry didn't sink!
Yes, perhaps they should only bother counting them when they know the ship is going to sink.

Pete's suggestion is reasonable but could (a) be used to cause trouble for the operator and
(b) cause the operator not to risk contacting the authorities in a unknown situation.

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gorf, soton says...
10:57am Fri 11 Jan 08

I think red funnel should pay for the searches.

I have donated a few quid to the RNLI over the years and to see it wasted on red funnel every couple of weeks!!!

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Alex, says...
10:58am Fri 11 Jan 08

Andy, It is very important that the number of persons is confirmed, mostly incase the boat sinks, but people do go overboard from time to time. Being a Lifeboat volunteer myself I think it is important; the launch of a helicopter and say two lifeboats could have cost around 20k, firstly the RNLI is a charity so what a waste, bum more importantly what if a real incident occured and the services were tied up with searching for someone who wasent missing, just mistaken by a ferry crew for being overboard? Lives could be put at risk as a result.

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alex, says...
11:01am Fri 11 Jan 08

In terms of paying bills, we pride ourselves in offering this service for nothing, we do not charge to tow in foolish fisherman with the wrong kit and for false searches. You then could be faced with the problem that people might be hesitant about calling the Coastguard in fear of being charged. Its scary where the money goes, but thats the way it is.

Personally I hope the ferry company make a donation to the RNLI!

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hmm, says...
11:33am Fri 11 Jan 08

Whats it got to do with the ferry company, if these idiots want to jump off the ferries let them get on with it, counting them wont stop this

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Captain Sensible, says...
2:46pm Fri 11 Jan 08

pete wrote:
How about getting the ferry operator to foot the bill for a call-out such as this? That would encourage greater care in the counting process!
And who would end up paying in the end?...yes you have it ..the passengers!!!!

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Cap'n Birdseye, says...
3:20pm Fri 11 Jan 08

I don't even like fishfingers.

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Bemused, says...
3:39pm Fri 11 Jan 08

The head count is fine for the sailing, but when disembarking the ferry has plainly made it safely to the Island. Cross channel do not conduct a head count, so surely it is not necessary on Red Funnel? Commonsense here could save a lot of money without endangering life.

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Sailor Sam, at sea says...
11:47pm Fri 11 Jan 08

The MCA requires passengers boarding ships to be counted to ensure that ships do not carry more people than they have lifesaving equipment for. Every passenger vessel has a passenger carrying certificate stating that maximum number. I'm certain that cross-channel passengers are counted despite Bemused's comment. It would be interesting to know if the MCA requires passengers disembarking from ships to be counted.
Red Funnel appear not to count the people inside vehicles. Perhaps this repeat occurrence will prompt Red Funnel to count ALL its passengers, thus avoiding these searches.
Sam

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Bemused, says...
12:57pm Sat 12 Jan 08

To clarify iam sure they count them on for the reasons you state, but they do not count them off.

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A Volunteer, says...
3:52pm Sat 12 Jan 08

May be Red Funnel are not solely to blame. While it is defiantly sensible that red Funnel carry out a review of their procedures for checking the number of occupants of cars coming on and off the ferry, the crew of the ferry were obviously concerned enough to raise the alarm and I am sure that any volunteer lifeboatman would much rather be called out in these circumstances than delay a search for what could have potentially been a person in the water, which sadly has been the case in the past.

The ferry passenger who went missing on this occasion must also take some of the blame although I am sure he/she is already suitably embarrassed by the whole episode and will be very unlikely to make the same mistake again, and I am sure had no intention of causing such a situation in the first place.

These rules are made to ensure that when things do go wrong that the emergency services have the maximum information available, and that everyone can be accounted for, so preventing valuable time being wasted when it really counts.

I am sure those involved will be grateful for the time the RNLI’s volunteer lifeboat crews gave during this incident, and those thanks should be extended to employers and families of the crew who constantly have to live with the fact that that person may be called out to help others day or night 365 days a year.

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Adam, Southampton says...
8:57pm Mon 17 Mar 08

have you thought that maybe the count is done for this reason.. while in this case it was a false alarm the time before it wasn't.. the authorities were informed and eventually the S&R operation recovered a body

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