Killyleagh skipper ‘put people at risk’

Killyleagh skipper ‘put people at risk’

20 March 2013

A KILLYLEAGH charter boat operator has received a suspended prison sentence for breaching safety regulations during an outing last year.

A senior Coastguard officer has said 65 year-old James Grahame Stronge put the lives of his passengers at risk when he took 22 people on a trip on Lough Foyle on January 28 last year.

The motor cruiser Sarah May III is licensed to carry a maximum of 12 passengers and three crew but when he left Derry on a charter by the Conservation Volunteers he had 22 passengers and two crew members. Four of the passengers were children, Derry Crown Court was told.

The two liferafts on the vessel only had room for 16 people and one of the liferafts had not been properly serviced.

An investigation by the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) found that of the 21 inflatable lifejackets on board, which required to be serviced annually, 17 had not been serviced since 2008.

On February 8 the MCA issued the vessel with a detention notice which prohibited sailing until all of the lifejackets had been serviced. 

However, on February 17, while all the lifejackets and liferafts were ashore, the Sarah May III sailed to Lough Swilly, breaching the notice.

Stronge appeared at Londonderry Crown Court recently where he admitted four charges and was given a nine month suspended prison sentence and fined a total of £1,500.

It was revealed to the court that Stronge has a previous relevant conviction for having excess passengers in 2011.

Judge Piers Grant said the monetary penalties imposed for this “should have served as a warning to you to make sure the safety equipment was available and appropriate”.

The judge said that “history is littered with disasters that have occurred in unexpected circumstances” and it is “arrogant to assume nothing would happen” without proper equipment.

Judge Grant said that while he didn’t have the power to disqualify Stronge from operating a boat, he suggested the Royal Yachting Association “should look very carefully at whether he is an appropriate person to carry a licence”.

Senior MCA officer, Captain Bill Bennett, Area Operations Manager for Survey and Inspection, said Stronge, of Clea Lough Road, had previously pleaded guilty to carrying more than 12 passengers.

“His actions put the lives of all his passengers at risk. A Detention Notice is placed on a ship to prevent it from sailing in an unsafe condition and in the rare case of an owner breaching the terms of the Detention, the MCA will investigate and where appropriate persons will be prosecuted,” he said.