Published on: 19 May 2022
New regulations to come into effect from April 2023
Following the release of the MAIB’s report last week investigating the tragic fatality onboard hire boat ‘Diamond Emblem 1’ on the Broads in August 2020, recommendations were made to make the British Marine/ VisitEngland Quality Accredited Boatyard (QAB) Scheme a requirement of the Broads Authority’s Hire Boat and Hire Operators licensing provisions.
Last Friday (13 May) at the Broads Authority meeting it was agreed that the scheme would be adopted to sit alongside their own internal inspection regime, and this change will come into effect for 1 April 2023.
“Following last week’s announcement, we look forward to working closely with the Broads Authority to aid the smooth implementation of the scheme into their existing processes”, commented Lesley Robinson, CEO, British Marine.
“We recognise that safety is paramount, and we should be continually reviewing and ensuring the processes and checks are in place to keep people safe when out on the water. We welcome the recognition of the QAB scheme as an industry leading quality assurance scheme and hope that its inclusion in the Broads licensing requirements will provide additional safety to those out on the water.”
The British Marine Quality Accredited Boatyard scheme, in partnership with VisitEngland, is an industry lead scheme developed to support hire boat operators. It has been running in its current guise for over eight years and it provides an independent audit of a company’s procedures and processes. It indicates that hire boat operators are committed to quality and provide recognition for their operations.
In support of the Broads Authority’s decision British Marine has decided to give access to its Hire Boat Code Course to non-members of hire boat operations on the Broads.
For more information about the QAB scheme visit https://britishmarine.co.uk/Services/Growth/Quality-Schemes/Quality-Accredited-Boatyard-Scheme
