Revealed: ‘Too heavy’ Coast Guard vans cost taxpayer €1.48m
THE Coast Guard has had to explain to the State’s spending watchdog how it managed to splash out €1.48m on vans that are too heavy to carry a full crew and their equipment at the same time.
Such is the concern about the weight of the vans, a warning was issued that crew members could not risk carrying drinking water in the vehicles because they were overweight and illegal to operate.
The Coast Guard bought 20 Ford Transit vans at a cost of €1.48m. At least 18 of them were earmarked to be used by cliff-climbing crews.
Correspondence obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows each van cost €44,950. Another €29,228 was spent equipping each of the vans to carry all of the necessary equipment. The first van was bought in 2016. Nine more vans were acquired a year later, with the final 10 delivered last year.
Internal emails and notes show senior volunteers and officers raised concerns about the vans on multiple occasions, with the Coast Guard told they were “not fit for purpose” and advised to “cut its losses” and replace them with purpose-built vehicles.
The vans initially came as standard, with seven seats and four-wheel drive capability, but two seats were removed from each van so the vehicles could carry a five-person crew.
Panelling, storage systems and climbing equipment were all added. Each of the vans can carry 3,500kg, but by the time the fitting was completed, each van was within 84kg of the maximum capacity weight, meaning the vans could only carry a driver and no passengers or crew. Academic studies show the average weight of a European adult is 71kg.
Last November an internal report concluded the vans “cannot legally transport five people to an incident as it would immediately place the vehicle overweight by 100kg”, even after some equipment had been removed.
The report added: “This is without units adding additional small item equipment such as water. We should be running underweight with loading capabilities for future changes in the load carrying. Running a vehicle being overweight is both illegal and inappropriate.”
A week later, Coast Guard officials met the Coastal Unit Advisory Group (CUAG), a mechanism through which volunteers can liaise with headquarters. Carrying some equipment in trailers behind the vans was suggested, but this was considered a risk because of the terrain over which the crews travel.
Another report on the vans in February noted trailers had been used in this way before because of weight issues with older vans. It cited a safety notice issued to rescuers in November 2014 after it was discovered the fleet of Mercedes Sprinter vans being used at the time were running overweight.
Plans are now under way to buy replacement vans for the cliff rescue crews.
The Sunday Independent first highlighted weight issues with the vans last March. Two days later, Coast Guard director Eugene Clonan asked units and support manager Niall Ferns to prepare a draft report for the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) on the matter.
The C&AG said it could not comment on the matter.
A Coast Guard spokeswoman said the vans initially earmarked for cliff crews will be used as incident support and drone vehicles.