Person overboard from passenger ferry Snowdrop resulting in recovery of a young child from the water
Location: Seacombe ferry terminal, River Mersey, England.
Accident Investigation Report 22/2014
Investigation report into marine accident including what happened and safety lessons:
(4,246.23 kb)
Summary
On 14 October 2013 a young child fell overboard and was recovered from the passenger ferry Snowdrop at Seacombe ferry terminal, River Mersey, England.
Safety lessons
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a 3 year old child was rescued from the River Mersey by the ship’s mate after she fell over the upper deck guardrail of the ferry Snowdrop
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the location and design of the upper deck seating enabled the child to climb to the top of the guardrail
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the adults responsible for the child, allowed her to stand on the seating and were distracted prior to the accident occurring
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measures in place to prevent passengers from standing on the seating proved ineffective
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procedures to inform the Coastguard were not followed
Recommendations
As a result of the actions taken by Merseytravel and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) in response to this accident, no recommendations have been made.
Published: 28 August 2014