Recommendation 12: Formal safety assessment of Class V passenger vessels

We wholeheartedly support this initiative by the Department to carry out an FSA to cover every aspect of the safety of Class V passenger vessels including their encounter risk with large ships and bridges, fire risk, stability, subdivision, freeboard, visibility, life-saving appliances, means of escape, manning, passenger numbers, trading areas and safety management. We recommend that, in the course of what we understand will be a wide-ranging review, the FSA should include an extensive analysis of life-saving appliances and means of escape in the light of the concerns expressed in this inquiry. We also recommend that the MCA should afford the highest priority to conducting the FSA on the older vessels.