C_steam

Red tape cuts pleasure boat trips

A Scarborough pleasure boat which helped evacuate troops from Dunkirk has been stopped from taking day trips to Whitby because of new EU regulations.
The Coronia is being prevented from making its 17-mile (24.1 km)journey to Whitby harbour because new rules limit it to round trips of 30 nautical miles.

Captain Tom Machin, 59, said he now had to turn back two miles before Whitby and could not allow passengers ashore.

Previously the rule could be relaxed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

But under the terms of its European Class C Licence, the Coronia, which was built in 1935 and rescued hundreds of servicemen from Dunkirk during World War II, is not allowed to make the trip to Whitby harbour.

Mr Machin said: "She can go to Dunkirk, but she can't go to Whitby.

"They have said no exemptions, you have got your licence and that is it.

"It's been such a shame because Whitby harbour benefits from it, Scarborough harbour benefits from it . . . everybody benefits.

"There are no negatives and it's part of the Scarborough holiday scene."

The boat captain is now campaigning to have the rules relaxed.

Roger Janson, of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said the EU rules had previously applied to vessels built from 2000 onwards.

He said: "They now have to be applied to existing vessels to ensure the continued safety of the vessels, the crew and the passengers when those vessels are operating in the UK and in EU waters."

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hampshire al

Has any one told the RNLI