FTA concern over VOSA ferry checks
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THE FRFICiHT Transport Association (FTA) has voiced its concerns over a government recommendation that VOSA should begin checking vehicles to ensure they comply with guidance on ferry securing arrangements.
The advice comes in a report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) into the circumstances that led to a Turners (Soham) tanker crashing through the stern doors of a Stena Line ferry
and landing in port water (CM 8 October).
The MAIB found that the handbrake was not on and the tanker did not comply with national and international codes of practice.
It concluded most lorries arriving at UK ports for ferry embarkation do not have the recommended number of ferry securing rings fitted and continued: "A significant percentage has no securing rings."
It recommended that VOSA undertakes "a co-ordinated programme of roadside and dockside inspections of freight vehicles presenting for shipment at UK ports, to identify those that don't comply with the International Maritime Organization and the Maritime Coastguard Agency guidance on ferry securing arrangements."
But FTA bead of engineering policy Andy Mair argues that this is unrelated to the agency's enforcement activities.
"Their role is to enforce road safety, and ferry lashings have no bearing on that," he says.
VOSA did not comment.