Duckmarine vessels ‘lacked buoyancy foam’

YELLOW DUCKMARINE’S “Duck” vessels were not fitted with enough buoyancy material to keep them afloat, according to a report.

The business, owned by Hale-based Pearlwild Ltd which is now in liquidation, ran tours from Liverpool’s Albert Dock in the amphibious vehicle, but two sank in March and June last year.

A report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) found the Ducks did not have the quantity of buoyancy foam required to provide the “mandated level of residual buoyancy”.

No one was injured in the accidents which were followed several months later by a fire on another Duck craft in the Thames which was operated by a separate company, London Duck Tours.

London Duck Tours had made buoyancy amendments to their vessel, but but the “foam was so tightly packed around machinery that it caught fire”, found the report. 

The MAIB said passengers and crew were not adequately prepared to deal with the emergency situation at the Liverpool incident in June. It also found the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) periodic inspection regimes and their unscheduled interventions had been ineffective.

Close