Operators of historic vessels could be sunk by requirements costing up to £250,000 per boat, The Guardian reported. Under new safety proposals, passengers will be barred on such historic boats unless their owners make costly changes to the design.
While boat owners agree that safety is paramount, they say the scale of bringing old boats into line with new, under Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) proposals, could close their businesses and lead to skilled jobs – as well as popular passenger boat services – disappearing.
Most contentious are rules to ensure a vessel’s “survivability”. New boats have compartments to keep them afloat after a collision. More than 600 vessels around Britain could be affected by the proposals.
For more information, please follow this link.