GovWire

Accident Investigation Report 7/2024

Summary

On 20 July 2023, the UK registered motor vessel Channel Queen grounded as it passed over the wreck of the steam ship Varvassi near the Needles lighthouse, Isle of Wight, England while escorting a relay swim event around the island. Channel Queen was then deliberately beached in nearby Scratchells Bay.

The passengers and crew abandoned Channel Queen to its rigid inflatable boat and a liferaft and were then transferred to a Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboat. Channel Queen was subsequently declared a total loss.

The investigation found that there was no charted navigational passage plan; effective use was not being made of the available navigation equipment to execute a safe passage; the qualified skipper had departed the vessel to a kayak before Channel Queen grounded; and the vessel was being driven by Channel Queens owner, who was insufficiently qualified to be in command.

Statement from the Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents

Safety issues

• the risks associated with ineffective passage planning were not considered before the voyage commenced. The skippers passage plan did not provide a sound basis for the safe circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight while providing swim support close inshore.

• the skipper and owner prioritised the swim event over the safe navigation of the vessel. When the vessel grounded, the skipper had left the vessel after a very brief handover to the owner, who was insufficiently qualified to command and was attempting to deal with multiple distractions single-handedly.

• the skipper disembarking to the kayak had become a normalised procedure during previous swim support events. Both the owner and the skipper had overlooked the requirement for the vessel to always remain under the command of an appropriately qualified crew member when underway.

Recommendations

Swimon Proprietary Limited has been recommended (2024/123) to implement a process to ensure that any vessel it operates or engages from a third party to support its events is crewed by sufficient numbers of personnel who are suitably qualified for the intended area of operation and that these personnel remain on board at all times when underway.

The company has also been recommended (2024/124) to review the method of navigation passage planning used on board any vessel it operates to ensure that recommended good practice is followed, including making appropriate use of charts and charting systems.

Photograph credit

Photograph of Channel Queen courtesy of David Bathgate.