Vol. 395 No. 6
59 Mr. Stafford asked the Minister for the Marine , following the recent incident involving the Columba off the west coast of Britain, the emergency plan which would be put into action should a similar incident occur in Irish waters.
Since the Zeebrugge ferry disaster in 1987 my Department have been concerned about our capacity to respond to accidents involving sea ferries. An accident to a passenger ferry is potentially the most serious maritime emergency we could face.
Soon after the Zeebrugge disaster my predecessor established the National Ferry Safety Committee, made up of technical officers of the Irish ferry companies and officers of my Department. This committee reviews safety procedures and standards on board Irish ferries and recommend any necessary improvements.
From the point of view of legislation, all the recommendations which were made by the inquiry into the Zeebrugge disaster, with one exception, have been implemented.
My Department recently held a seminar on ferry safety for professionals which included among other topics a lecture on fire at sea, its detection and extinction. As a result of this seminar, it was decided that training in fire fighting was needed for all ferry staff. The National Ferry Safety Committee will oversee the implementation of appropriate training courses. The committee are planning to draft a ferry operations manual, designed to minimise fire and accident risk by ensuring good working practices.
Although every effort is made to minimise the risk of fire or accident on board a ferry — and passenger ferries have an exceptionally good safety record — emergencies can occur and we must be prepared to respond to them. The Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) at Shannon is responsible for co-ordinating action to deal with emergencies when they occur. They have specific procedures laid down for coping with an incident of fire on board a vessel.
