This in from Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Andrew Turner’s office, in their own words. Ed
The Island’s MP Andrew Turner has spoken out following the publication yesterday of the Marine Accident Investigation Bureau’s (MAIB) report into the collapse of the mezzanine deck on Wightlink’s vessel St Helen in July 2014. A crew member was knocked unconscious during the incident and three passengers injured. A number of vehicles were also damaged.
The report makes clear that the catastrophic deck collapse was caused by a failure of a steel rope, which had suffered excessive wear and had not been maintained properly over many years. Despite repeated warnings it had been allowed to deteriorate to a dangerously unsafe condition. A number of other serious safety concerns were highlighted in the report.
Mr Turner said today:
“This is a damning report. Wightlink were reckless with people’s lives and took no notice of numerous warnings of the danger, either from external inspectors or their own staff. As any public transport operator will say, the Health and Safety of staff, passengers and members of the public comes before anything else. Had, God forbid, anyone been killed, it is clear that senior directors of the Company would now be facing corporate manslaughter charges.
“What is so disturbing about is the exposure of a culture so devoid of responsibility for Wightlink’s legal obligations that it makes one wonder whether they are capable of fundamentally changing the company’s approach to safety.”
Bonuses worth well over £1m were paid to senior directors
Mr Turner went on say,
“Examination of the accounts for Wightlink show very high profits. The highest paid director received £714,000 plus pension contributions in 2015 (up from £382,000 the previous year), and bonuses worth well over £1m were paid to senior directors for their performance.
“At the same time as paying senior staff such enormous salaries and bonuses Wightlink were simply ignoring basic safety procedures. One wonders what kind of due diligence Balfour Beatty could have possibly undertaken before purchasing the business and entrusting its reputation to the old Wightlink management?”
We need detailed commitments from Wightlink and their owners
Mr Turner finished by saying,
“I am calling for a full response from the Company to explain what radical and well-funded measures they have already taken, and will now take to ensure that they will never again put at risk the lives of their staff and passengers. It seems to me that all regular independent safety inspections should be published along with internal documents that raise safety concerns.
“We need detailed commitments from Wightlink and their owners to put right any faults immediately without regard to cost. We need to know that they are fit to run this lifeline service. I will also be talking to Transport Ministers to examine what further actions may need to be taken.”
Image: © Used with the kind permission of Shane Thornton
