The Act applies to craft over 13.7m registered length or the equivalent thereof and not loa.

Registered length is often significantly shorter than loa depending on the rudder configuration and the pulpit arrangements.

The article later states "The MCA has jurisdiction over all UK waters. So the French owner in his Beneteau sailing to Brighton for a weekend's leisure has to comply, according to the MCA."

This statement is also incorrect as the SI specifically exempts all non-UK leisure craft of any size.

I note that in your article you were quoting Mr Nik Parker, technical director of the British Marine Federation and therefore I have copied this letter to him.

Once you have checked these facts, I should be grateful if you could correct the above errors.

Yours faithfully Captain R P Barton MNI Royal Navy Guernsey Registrar of British Ships Captain Barton copied Nik Parker, technical director of the British Marine Federation (BMF), into this correspondence, so we print Parker's response:

On both points Captain Barton is correct, but I would argue that the issue re foreign flag boats is not quite as clearcut as it could be.

Non-UK flag private boats are covered by MS Regs for fire protection when in UK waters, for whatever reason, but they are not covered by the LSA regs.

This just adds further to the confusion.

I think, therefore, a little leeway should be given as sorting out the fact is rather more complicated than at first sight.

Nik Parker Technical Director BMF

Dear Sir, You report confusion over the precedents set by the Maritime Coastguard Agency's recent prosecution, with the application of the Merchant Shipping Act and the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.

Go back to basics and there really should not be any confusion. Everyone is required to "work safely". We have a duty of care. We must exercise due diligence.

Extreme carelessness can result in manslaughter. None of this requires new acts of parliament or specific conventions such as SOLAS V.

The standards of seamanship, in their simplest form, are set out in the RYA/Board of Trade Yachtmaster syllabus. You need go no further to find that to be "duly diligent" you must plan your voyage, carry appropriate safety equipment, know how to communicate with search and rescue services and give assistance to other craft.

What is new?

This is the standard sought by recreational sailors. Any boating business delivering or just demonstrating a boat knows it would be very foolish give such a task to an employee who was not suitably (Yachtmaster) trained.

It is now a fact of life that after an accident there is blame. After blame is claim . . .

and sometimes a prosecution.

Yours faithfully, Peter Nicholson Nicholsons Risk Management PO18 8HG peter@peternicholson.com