This article is from page 6 of the 2012-03-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
A DOOLIN ferry owner charged with passenger “overloading” has been told to pay a contribution to the Royal Lifeboat National Institution (RNLI).
The charges were brought against Bill O’Brien of Lickeen, Kilfenora, by the Department of Transport at Ennis District Court on Friday.
Mr O’Brien, who has operated a ferry business in Doolin since 1970, was charged in relation to two passenger vessels in his ownership, ‘The Queen of Aran’ and ‘Tranquility’.
The charges state that in failing to comply with the conditions and re- quirements of the Merchant Shipping Act, the owner did cause the vessel to contain a number of passengers exceeding the maximum number as required.
Captain Neil Forde, a nautical surveyor with the Department of Transport, told the court that a colleague had observed “overloading” on ‘The Queen of Aran’ and ‘Tranquility’ on August 18, 2011.
Capt Forde explained that 101 people were on a ship that had a maximum capacity of 96. In the other incident, Capt Forde explained, 103 passengers boarded a ship with a maximum capacity of 93. The court was told that Mr O’Brien has no pre- vious convictions.
The court was told that Mr O’Brien and his crew operated a clicker system to record the number of passengers that board ships. Under questioning from solicitor John Callinan, Capt Forde agreed that the overloading occurred as result of a breakdown in the clicker system.
The court heard that the business has now moved to a position of issuing individual boarding cards rather than group boarding cards.
Capt Forde told the court that both boats had sufficient lifesaving equipment and lifeboats on board. He explained that one of the dangers of overloading was that, in the event of an emergency at sea, rescue crews might not take into account extra passengers.
Mr Callinan said Mr O’Brien had operated a “very significant” familyrun business in West Clare for over 40 years.
Judge Patrick Durcan said that overloading could lead to a “tremendous tragedy”. Noting Mr O’Brien’s guilty plea, his good record and his prescience along with that of his crew in court, Judge Durcan ordered him to pay a sum of € 1, 500 to the RNLI. He also ordered him to pay costs to the Department of Transport, bringing the total to € 1,855. No conviction was recorded against Mr O’Brien.