All at sea

CONSIDERING the disaster that befell the Costa Concordia cruise ship only last month, at the cost of at least 25 lives, it might be thought that no one, at the moment, would be taking maritime safety for granted. Yet, 25 years on from the Zeebrugge disaster, it appears that the ferry industry is doing just that.

According to European Union research, quoted by the Nautilus International sailors’ union, the industry is prepared to accept the risk of a disaster costing 1,000 lives happening once every 20 years.

In other words, it is claimed that, for the sake of avoiding extra safety measures which would affect profit margins, the industry is prepared to write off the lives of its customers.

If this is correct, it is simply unacceptable. While many industries have become only too conscious of health-and-safety, to the extent where costly precautions are employed, even though they are unlikely ever to be used, very few people would regard it as excessive to institute measures that would save an average of 50 lives a year.

The Government is presently pursuing the laudable aim of slashing red tape. Yet to cut regulations without giving proper thought to the effect is potentially as damaging as creating legislation without thoroughly thinking it through. The rule-of-thumb should be simple: if a safety measure is likely to save lives, its cost is worthwhile.