SHEE-30 Response Historic AI-assessed

Alter UK berths to allow ships to shut bow and stern doors

Recommendation

It follows that if ships cannot shut their doors at a particular berth, because of the design of that berth, then alterations should be made to the berth. Alterations have been made to some berths, but it is considered by the Court that all berths on U.K. routes should be altered so that ships with clam shell doors or normal stern doors are able to shut their doors before leaving the berth. It is desirable that each berth should then carry an approval certificate specifically listing the ships which can operate from it, and can shut their bow and stern doors without moving from the berth. Parliament may wish to consider whether it should be an offence for a ferry to leave a berth before its bow and stern doors are closed.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
No specific government response or evidence of action regarding alterations to UK berths to allow ships to shut bow and stern doors has been identified in the provided public sources. General searches on GOV.UK for "Sheen Inquiry recommendation implementation" and "Sheen Inquiry government response" yielded numerous results, but no specific documents detailing progress on this recommendation were provided. A search on legislation.gov.uk for "Sheen Inquiry" returned no results.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
This recommendation requires implementation across many organisations. The assessment reflects central policy response, not adoption in individual organisations.
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Historic

No government response recorded.

Source
Report Sheen Inquiry — Final Report 24 Jul 1987
Recommendation age 38.7 yrs
Last formal update No formal updates