British not, EU rules are the problem for Coronia

Yorkshire and Humber MEP, Richard Corbett has discovered that British maritime regulations, not EU regulations have docked Scarborough passenger ship the MV Coronia.

Richard, a Labour MEP, said: “When the MV Coronia was prevented from making its traditional voyage, it was reported in the media that these restrictions came from Brussels. I have since found out that these restrictions have been put in place not by the EU, but by our own Maritime Coastguard Agency. In fact, should the Maritime Coastguard Agency simply apply the EU Directive, the MV Coronia would indeed be allowed to make the voyage from Scarborough to Whitby with no restrictions.”

Richard has urged the British Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) to immediately apply a European law on maritime safety in order to save Scarborough passenger ferry the MV Coronia, which has recently been docked due to new British safety measures that are different from those Britain recently agreed with our European partners.

Under the EU Directive, the MV Coronia would be allowed to sail up to 15 miles from the nearest harbour, but under the British law, the MV Coronia is not allowed to sail more than 15 miles from its point of origin .

Richard continued: “The reason this has been blamed on Brussels is because the MCA wanted to be more stringent in applying its own local rules - before it had been lenient in the application of its own laws, hence the MV Coronia being allowed to break UK law and sail the extra 2 miles. But now they have decided to use European classifications of vessels in order to pass their own harsh restrictions off as European regulations. They have done this to avoid criticism over an unpopular move by themselves.

“I have written to the MCA to request that they either simply apply the EU regulations that will save the MV Coronia's traditional journey, or at least come clean about who exactly is imposing these ‘new' restrictions.”

ENDS

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• The MV Coronia is a passenger ship based in Scarborough that sails a 17 mile journey between Scarborough and Whitby . It has recently been told it can no longer sail more than 15 miles at a time ‘in accordance' with EU Directive 98/18/EC on maritime safety.

• EU Directive 98/18/EC on maritime safety was introduced in 1999 and was in fact based on British proposals to improve the safety of its own and other domestic passenger fleets across Europe.

• The MCA took advantage of the directive's ‘equivalency' arrangements and requested that the British classification of vessels be equated to the EU classification of vessels. Former UK classes II(A) to VI(A) (a total of six classes) were therefore reclassified as EU classes A to D (a total of four classes) in line with EU Directive 98/18/EC.

• The MCA did not apply the restrictions defined in the new EU classifications of vessels. Instead, they applied the existing UK restrictions to the new EU classes, and did so without the leniency they had previously shown.

• Under the former British classification of vessels, the MV Coronia was a Class VI Vessel. A Class VI Vessel, according to British maritime law, cannot sail more than 15 miles from its point of origin.

• Under the new EU classification, the MV Coronia is a Class C Vessel. The EU Directive states that a Class C Vessel cannot sail more than 15 miles from the nearest refuge point (port/harbour).

• As the MCA applied its own restrictions to the new EU classification, instead of adopting the new EU restrictions, the MV Coronia , as a Class C Vessel is only able to sail 15 miles from its point of origin ( Whitby is 17 miles away from the point of origin).

• If the MCA fully applied the EU Directive, with no UK alterations, the MV Coronia , as a Class C Vessel, would be able to sail to Whitby as it will always be within 15 miles of a point of refuge.

• Prior to 2007, when the MCA announced the new classifications were to be introduced, the MCA was fairly lenient in the application of its own restrictions, hence the MV Coronia being able to break UK law and sail the extra 2 miles. Now the MCA want to enforce its own rules more stringently, it is using the new EU classifications to justify it. However, the MCA is merely enforcing existing UK maritime law, not new EU maritime law.

• If the MCA were to fully implement EU maritime law, the MV Coronia would be able to make its traditional journey from Scarborough to Whitby without any restrictions.

more information

Press enquiries: Contact Luke Thorne, Press and Communications Officer to Richard Corbett MEP

• phone 0113 245 8987
• e-mail luke@richardcorbett.org.uk