European Union - Thames safety in balance
WORKERS, SEPT 2006 ISSUE
Another EU Directive, scheduled to be introduced in January 2007, will halve the qualifications, qualifying period, training required and training available to qualify for a Masters licence to captain craft on the River Thames.
The EU is introducing a one-size-fits-all directive for all river traffic and river working across the EU. Captain's qualifications were strengthened after the 1989 Marchioness disaster when 51 people were drowned on the Thames.
The proposed legislation deskills the safety standards built up over decades. No other European river has the tidal complexities that the Thames has, but the directive ignores this and the five million people who use the Thames each year.
The legislation provides for exemptions. Both the Rhine and the Danube have been exempted after a request from the German government. Has this government made a sound? No. Did it draft the legislation? Probably. Watermen, crews, river users continue their campaign to oppose this nonsensical legislation.