Cleveleys Beach News

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) released the report of its investigation into the grounding and subsequent loss of the ro-ro cargo vessel Riverdance on Shell Flats – Cleveleys Beach, Lancashire on 31 January 2008. The root cause seems to have been complacency. The true weights and dispositions of the cargo were not calculated, nor was the ship’s stability. Despite the heavy weather conditions, some openings on the weather deck were not closed off. The ship proceeded in following seas at a speed slightly slower than that of the following wave train. A late attempt to bring the ship’s head into the wind was not thought through and exacerbated the ship’s port heel.