A yacht crew's failure to take some basic safety measures contributed to an eight-day ordeal at sea in a drifting life raft with no food or water, according to a report published by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board.
The report into the loss of the motor yacht Inis Mil while en route from Kenmare, Co Kerry, to the Scilly Isles two years ago, is one of four investigations released this week by the board.
The need for a new public awareness campaign on life jacket use is highlighted by board investigators in another of the reports, which deals with a fatal canoeing accident on Lough Derg, Co Clare, last January.
All five crew on board the Inis Mil were rescued by the British coastguard off north Cornwall in September 2004, when a trip from Kerry to Cherbourg, via the Scilly Isles, went badly wrong.
Within an hour of departure the alternator on the yacht, owned by Stephanie Preux, began to give trouble and a leak was detected in the bilges on the first day.
This leak became more pronounced as weather freshened, pumps failed and a series of further technical problems forced the crew to take to a six-man Seago liferaft. The skipper suffered burns when he tried to set the yacht alight to attract attention, as the VHF radio was not working.
Although food and water were transferred from the yacht to the raft, there were no rations on the raft itself and it was not approved under international safety conventions. There were no survival instructions and the five crew ran out of supplies after two days.
At times, during heavy rain, the occupants thought they were suffocating and there was a constant battle to maintain pressure in the raft's chambers due to leaks caused by a sharp object in the first-aid kit. After seven days adrift, the crew observed shore lights and a lighthouse, and the following morning mobile phone contact was made with the British rescue services.
The five were picked up three miles northwest of Trevose Head, Cornwall, and all recovered.
The Marine Casualty Investigation Board makes a series of recommendations in relation to basic marine safety and says "great caution" should be exercised in purchasing or hiring life rafts. They should be approved with the international Solas accreditation or by the Department of Marine, it says.
The failure of a life raft to inflate at all in an emergency is highlighted in another report on the sinking of a yacht while en route from Dublin to Scotland in May 2005. The three crew on board Megawat were rescued by a dinghy belonging to an accompanying vessel.
Lack of public awareness about legislation on life jacket use in small craft is raised by the board in the report on the death of John Buckley on Lough Derg on January 22nd. Mr Buckley had gone canoeing with a friend, Lucinda Murphy, and her dog. The craft got into difficulties some 25m offshore and capsized. The pair had only one life jacket between them.
Ms Murphy was assisted ashore by John O'Brien, resident of a cottage on the lake, but Mr O'Brien and Ms Murphy's terrier, which was trapped under the hull of the canoe, drowned.
