# Car deck collapse on Isle of Wight ferry - merged threads



## Pompeyfan (Aug 9, 2005)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-28382187


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## ben27 (Dec 27, 2012)

good day pompeyfan,super moderator.yesterday.18:14.re:car deck collapse on isle of wight ferry,thank you for posting informative link.it is good news there were so few casualty's,regards ben27


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## Dickyboy (May 18, 2009)

The role of the crew member on the mezzanine deck is to ensure that all the automatic sliding access doors to the deck are closed, that all passengers are in their cars, and reminding drivers to ensure that the handbrakes are firmly on. When these conditions are met he then informs the main car deck who will then lower the deck. There are hydraulic pins around the underside of the mezzanine deck, which has to be raised a couple of inches for these pins to be retracted. This action often results in a jolt as the load of the deck is transferred from the pins onto the cables that actually lower the deck. This jolt can be a bit disconcerting to the in uninitiated, and a drop of several feet would have been very scary.
The crew member would have been the only one standing up there. 
Lucky no one on the main car deck was underneath at the time, though it is normal practice to "Stand from Under" once the pins have been removed.
The mezzanine deck can be lowered in several configurations, from all level in the upper position, half the deck lowered or all the deck lowered from aft to for'd, also the Mezz deck can be split, so that only half is used. When not in use the deck can be stowed right up tight against the deckhead allowing high vehicles to be parked underneath. These ships are Roro so the Mezz Deck configurations can be worked in either direction.


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## Dickyboy (May 18, 2009)

St Helen.


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## Dickyboy (May 18, 2009)

http://onthewight.com/2014/07/20/broken-cable-revealed-photos-ferry-incident-passenger/


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## Dickyboy (May 18, 2009)

Quite scary I should think.


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## Geoff Gower (Sep 8, 2011)

*Car deck on ferry collapses*

FULL car deck has part collapsed on a Wightlink ferry at Fishbourne. Four people have been taken to hospital by the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service. The ambulance service was called to the scene at 10.22pm.A spokesman said: "We dispatched a paramedic car, a bronze commander and two ambulances to the scene. "We treated four patients, all of whom have been taken to St Mary's Hospital. We do not believe there are any further casualties." Police, the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service and coastguard also attended. A spokeswoman for the fire service said one crew had been sent to assist the ambulance service. She said: "A car deck, which was fully loaded withvehicles, has collapsed on one side." Coastguard said the ferry would depart for Portsmouth in order to let another ferry dock.
The second ferry had been waiting for approximately an hour and a half.Wightlink has issued this statement: "The St HELEN car ferry, the 9:30pm sailing from Portsmouth Gunwharf with 181 passengers and 11 crew on board, arrived at Fishbourne at 10:16pm. "As part of the usual disembarkation process, after vehicles on the lower deck had left the ship, the starboard forward mezzanine deck with nine cars on board was lowered. When it was a short distance from the deck below, it dropped a few feet and made contact with the lower deck. "One member of the crew and three passengers have been taken to St Mary's Hospital by ambulance. "The Isle of Wight ambulance service has confirmed none of the injuries are life-threatening. A member of Wightlink's staff attended the hospital to aid and support customers. A full investigation into the incident is underway. The incident has been reported to the Marin e Accident Investigation Branch and Wightlink is fully co-operating with the authorities. " St HELEN in common with all Wightlink ferries, is inspected regularly by external surveyors. The last independent engineering survey of the ship, including its mezzanine decks, took place in May 2014 during her annual refit." The company said there could be minor delays on the route, while the vessel was out of service.


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## borderreiver (Oct 11, 2008)

I think this news is a week old??


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## Pompeyfan (Aug 9, 2005)

*St Helen back in service*

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-28479529


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## Boatman25 (May 17, 2010)

This happened last Friday 19th July


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## Dickyboy (May 18, 2009)

Thanks for taking the time out to post anyway Geoff. (Thumb)


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## Pompeyfan (Aug 9, 2005)

*Official Report*

https://newsdesk.moreover.com/click...2&k=60810&ck=d533365711d74bae5d88f56f8e7a582c


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## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

A touching faith/emphasis on a planned maintenance system that is electronic as being the instrument to prevent further failures of the kind.

Unless the maintenance is going to be done by a robot then the electronic nature of the PM system has little to do with the maintenance itself. Allowing the system to be monitored more easily and more remotely is an issue but, as the MAIB reported, the necessary routines were covered and the failure to carry them out discovered and recorded both in-house and, apparently, by the MCA.


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## Colin Torrie (May 20, 2005)

Geoff Gower said:


> FULL car deck has part collapsed on a Wightlink ferry at Fishbourne. Four people have been taken to hospital by the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service. The ambulance service was called to the scene at 10.22pm.A spokesman said: "We dispatched a paramedic car, a bronze commander and two ambulances to the scene. "We treated four patients, all of whom have been taken to St Mary's Hospital. We do not believe there are any further casualties." Police, the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service and coastguard also attended. A spokeswoman for the fire service said one crew had been sent to assist the ambulance service. She said: "A car deck, which was fully loaded withvehicles, has collapsed on one side." Coastguard said the ferry would depart for Portsmouth in order to let another ferry dock.
> The second ferry had been waiting for approximately an hour and a half.Wightlink has issued this statement: "The St HELEN car ferry, the 9:30pm sailing from Portsmouth Gunwharf with 181 passengers and 11 crew on board, arrived at Fishbourne at 10:16pm. "As part of the usual disembarkation process, after vehicles on the lower deck had left the ship, the starboard forward mezzanine deck with nine cars on board was lowered. When it was a short distance from the deck below, it dropped a few feet and made contact with the lower deck. "One member of the crew and three passengers have been taken to St Mary's Hospital by ambulance. "The Isle of Wight ambulance service has confirmed none of the injuries are life-threatening. A member of Wightlink's staff attended the hospital to aid and support customers. A full investigation into the incident is underway. The incident has been reported to the Marin e Accident Investigation Branch and Wightlink is fully co-operating with the authorities. " St HELEN in common with all Wightlink ferries, is inspected regularly by external surveyors. The last independent engineering survey of the ship, including its mezzanine decks, took place in May 2014 during her annual refit." The company said there could be minor delays on the route, while the vessel was out of service.


Who or what Bronze Commander


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## Colin Torrie (May 20, 2005)

Geoff Gower said:


> FULL car deck has part collapsed on a Wightlink ferry at Fishbourne. Four people have been taken to hospital by the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service. The ambulance service was called to the scene at 10.22pm.A spokesman said: "We dispatched a paramedic car, a bronze commander and two ambulances to the scene. "We treated four patients, all of whom have been taken to St Mary's Hospital. We do not believe there are any further casualties." Police, the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service and coastguard also attended. A spokeswoman for the fire service said one crew had been sent to assist the ambulance service. She said: "A car deck, which was fully loaded withvehicles, has collapsed on one side." Coastguard said the ferry would depart for Portsmouth in order to let another ferry dock.
> The second ferry had been waiting for approximately an hour and a half.Wightlink has issued this statement: "The St HELEN car ferry, the 9:30pm sailing from Portsmouth Gunwharf with 181 passengers and 11 crew on board, arrived at Fishbourne at 10:16pm. "As part of the usual disembarkation process, after vehicles on the lower deck had left the ship, the starboard forward mezzanine deck with nine cars on board was lowered. When it was a short distance from the deck below, it dropped a few feet and made contact with the lower deck. "One member of the crew and three passengers have been taken to St Mary's Hospital by ambulance. "The Isle of Wight ambulance service has confirmed none of the injuries are life-threatening. A member of Wightlink's staff attended the hospital to aid and support customers. A full investigation into the incident is underway. The incident has been reported to the Marin e Accident Investigation Branch and Wightlink is fully co-operating with the authorities. " St HELEN in common with all Wightlink ferries, is inspected regularly by external surveyors. The last independent engineering survey of the ship, including its mezzanine decks, took place in May 2014 during her annual refit." The company said there could be minor delays on the route, while the vessel was out of service.


Who or what is a Bronze Commander


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## howardang (Aug 3, 2008)

Colin Torrie said:


> Who or what Bronze Commander


Have a look at this which explains the term

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold–silver–bronze_command_structure


Howard


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## Day Sailor (Nov 9, 2014)

The MAIB report has been published and is available to view on their website.
I haven't read it all but it condemns the lack of proper maintenance without attributing any blame to the reduced safety margins due to the fact that modern bloated cars weigh a heck of a lot more than those in use when the ferry was designed and built in 1987.


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