HC Deb 22 January 1997 vol 288 c635W
Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action(a) his Department and (b) the Marine Safety Agency is taking against (i) the operators and (ii) the officers and crew of the MV Canberra following the recent publication of the Marine Accidents Investigation Branch report into the incident in December 1994. [11516]

Mr. Bowis

No action has been taken by this Department or the Marine Safety Agency against the operators and crew of the MV Canberra. Although the MAIB investigation highlighted a number of deficiencies in both equipment and operational procedures onboard, these were not considered to justify prosecution.

Between the 1994 incident and the 1996 Marine Accidents Investigation Branch report, the operators initiated a number of modifications to the boiler fuel system and operational procedures in order to prevent a similar accident happening again. We are satisfied that lessons learnt from the Canberra incident have been addressed.