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• The Easy Rider was operating as a commercial fishing vessel on the accident voyage because it still had all its fishing equipment on board and its fishing crew and the skipper fully intended to go commercially fishing once he had disembarked his passengers and their equipment. • Maritime Rules did not allow Easy Rider to have been carrying passengers on the accident voyage. • Although the Easy Rider had been entered into the Safe Ship Management system, it was never going to help the owner and skipper to run a safe fishing operation, because the owner did not understand the principles of Safe Ship Management and the skipper did not appear to show a willingness to comply with the rules. • The skipper did not have the required maritime qualification to be in charge of the Easy Rider and probably did not have a sound knowledge of his vessel's stability. • The weather conditions were not suitable for the Easy Rider to have ventured across Foveaux Strait at night, with marginal stability and passengers on board. • The pre-arranged rendezvous with the helicopter to coincide with unloading other vessels at Big South Cape Island possibly influenced the skipper's decision to continue with his planned departure. • The Easy Rider did not have sufficient life saving equipment for the nine persons on board. There were as little as four life jackets on board the Easy Rider to be shared among nine people, which not only contravened maritime rules, but significantly reduced the chances of anyone surviving in the water after the vessel capsized. • The Easy Rider's manually operated emergency positionindicating radio beacon (EPIRB) had not been activated and was still stowed in its bracket within the wheelhouse when the vessel sank. Float-free EPIRBs and the enhancement of people carrying a personal locator beacons will improve the chances of being noticed and rescued, particularly in the event of a sudden or catastrophic event such as a capsize. • It has not been possible to determine who, if any, of the eight persons that died survived the initial capsize, and if so for how long they survived. • The Easy Rider's life-raft was in current survey and was properly installed, but was not able to float free to the surface because it became lodged between the wheelhouse and the bulwarks as the vessel was sinking. Rated for four persons only, the life-raft did not have sufficient capacity to cater for the nine persons on board. • The life saving equipment on a vessel of any description being used for any purpose must be suitable for the intended trip and for the number of persons on board. • Maritime Rules specify the bare minimum requirements for life-saving equipment. Operators should consider purchasing a higher standard of equipment that can improve the chances of detection and rescue in the event of a mishap. YOUR PREMIER MARINE FISHING PARTNER NAVIGATION COMMUNICATION Communications, VDR, Radar, ECDIS, Sonar, Monitoring, Depth and Fish Finders, Fleet Broadband, VSAT, BNWAS. Net Monitoring System. Net Monitoring Systems. TV antennas, VSAT, Fleet Broadband. TV antennas. Fleet Broadband, Mini VSAT. Satellite Airtime, Fleet/Fleet Broadband, Iridium, SatC. ECDIS, ECS. Key lessons learnt from this accident include: • Skippers and persons in charge of any craft must have at least a basic understanding of ship stability and how loading of people and equipment can affect the stability of their craft. • Navigating small craft in rough sea conditions at night is an inherently dangerous activity and should be avoided if and when possible. The Commission made recommendations to the director of Maritime New Zealand to alert owners of existing vessels built to the "Owenga" design of these stability issues, and that he addresses issues around retention and disposal of important maritime records. www.skipper.co.nz PC Software. YOUR MARINE ELECTRONICS EXPERTS www.enl.co.nz DISTIBUT S LE RV WE' R E OUT H E RE WITH Y OU! E SU P P O R 120 Dealers Nationwide. For further information Auckland - 09 373 5595 or Nelson - 03 548 4987 or visit www.enl.co.nz July/August 2013 Professional Skipper 73