London luxury show cancelled

London will have no boat show this year. The London Boat Show is no more and its luxury counterpart, the London On-water Boat Show, has also been cancelled. The St Katharine Dock on-water show is run by Informa, which also runs the Monaco Yacht and Ft Lauderdale Boat Shows. The company says it will evaluate again for 2021.

The sinking of a superyacht in Indonesia in November and the prolonged international effort required by rescue authorities to track down its four crewmembers led the UK’S Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) to remind mariners to register their emergency safety aids correctly.

The 95ft (29m) steel and aluminium sloop Asia hit an object and sunk 55 miles north of an island off Indonesia. According to local media, it was on passage from Alor Island, Indonesia to Phuket Island, Thailand when the skipper raised the alarm at around 2100 GMT on 22 November.

Its crew, which included two Britons, were able to make it unassisted to the closest landfall in Bima, eight hours away, using the yacht’s RIB. They were identified only thanks to protracted coordination from international rescue bodies, led by the MCA.

“HM Coastguard investigated a number of historical databases to try to contact the owner as well as using social media for current vessel activities,” explains the MCA’S communications officer, Julia Gosling.

“The main message is to remind leisure sailors to make sure EPIRB registration details are updated, for example when a vessel changes ownership. The emergency shore contact details you provide at registration are so important and can help you get rescued.”

For more visit the UK Beacon Register at www.gov.uk/406beacon

EPRIB warning after sinking