Fatal sea crash sparks look at race’s safety
Christopher Reive
The Volvo Ocean Race has commissioned an independent report into the safety of ocean racing at night after a fatal crash during the race in Hong Kong in January.
With the fleet racing into Hong Kong from Melbourne, Vestas 11th Hour Racing’s vessel collided with a fishing boat about 40km off shore at 1am local time on January 20.
A nearby commercial vessel rescued nine of the fishing crew, while a 10th died in hospital after being airlifted from the water.
None of the Vestas crew was injured, but their vessel sustained damage and had to be shipped to Auckland for repairs which meant they could not compete in legs five and six of the race.
Now an independent report team comprised of Rear Admiral Chris Oxenbould, ex-deputy chief of the Australian Navy, navigational expert Stan Honey and former chairman of the United States Sailing Safety at Sea Committee Chuck Hawley will look at what steps can be taken to mitigate risk in future.
Volvo Ocean Race director Phil Lawrence said there had been a lot of reaction to the incident, but it would take time to make a responsible assessment of what could be done to minimise future risks.
“Our sailors, as qualified profes- Phil Lawrence Volvo Ocean Race director sionals, understand their responsibilities under the international regulations for preventing collisions at sea, racing rules of sailing and the rules of the Volvo Ocean Race,” he said.
“As race organisers, we will continue to evaluate safety as we race over the coming months and take the appropriate steps to minimise risk.”
The findings of the report were expected to be made available to the Volvo Ocean Race by June.
There has been little more information about the incident aside from the race’s initial report of what had happened, because they had been dealing with authorities from Hong Kong and China.
However, investigations by Hong Kong and Chinese police were set to be closed with no further action taken, Lawrence said.
The Vestas crew will rejoin the fleet this week, getting back on the water for Saturday’s in-port race. ICE HOCKEY