Grounding of luxury motor yacht Land's End resulting in the vessel sinking
Location: On the St Joseph Reef off the west coast of Corsica.
Completed PE Summary: Land’s End
A short summary of the accident and action taken:
| Recreational Craft/Accident Details | |
|---|---|
| Vessel Name | Land’s End |
| Registered Owner/Manager | Addiston Ltd |
| Port of Registry | Falmouth |
| Flag | UK |
| Type | Luxury yacht |
| Built | 1965 |
| Classification Society | Lloyd’s Register |
| Construction | Steel |
| Gross Tonnage | 364 |
| Date/Time | 09/08/2005, 1350 |
| Location of incident | On the St Joseph Reef off the west coast of Corsica |
| Incident Type | Grounding |
| Persons onboard | 12 crew |
| Injuries/fatalities | None |
| Damage/Pollution | Ship lost/No pollution |
Synopsis
The luxury yacht Land’s End grounded and was holed on the St Joseph Reef off the west coast of Corsica whilst on passage in calm weather. The vessel flooded slowly and came to rest on the reef with her stern still above the water. All passengers and crew were evacuated safely. The ship sank beneath the surface some days later as a result of the weather deteriorating.
Action taken
The Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents has written to the vessel’s owners and master highlighting that the standard of navigation employed was poor. A significant contributory factor was the inadequacy of the safety management system with respect to basic bridge procedures. Concern was also expresses at the management arrangements for the vessel, which did not provide any external audit mechanism for how the ship was run.
The Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents has also written to the MCA about the application of the new large commercial yacht code, which was issued in September 2004 but is not yet in force, highlighting the importance of effective audit of the safety management systems in vessels under 500 GRT.