Regulatory
CHC is responsible under the Port Marine Safety Code for the effective enforcement of its regulations, which are adopted in order
to assist in managing the safety of navigation within the port. Enforcement comprises the promulgation of regulations an d guidance,
effective surveillance, incident investigation, and where appropriate, formal warning and prosecution. Our policy is based on
education in the fi rst instance and generally only reverting to prosecution for repeat offenders, for offences bringing signifi cant risk
of serious injury or loss of life or for when users threaten or abuse our staff members. Where appropriate, and where empowered
to do so, CHC will prosecute offenders for committing criminal offences, including those set out in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995
and in ancillary regulations.
Emergency Planning, Drills and Training
CHC remains a participating member of SOLFIRE, coming under ‘SOLFIRE Cowes’. CHC continues to manage our own emergency
response plans but has the added benefi t of having a formal structure for calling on assistance from neighbouring harbour authorities
in the event of a major incident.
The following emergency / security training and audits were conducted recently:
Cowes Harbour Master attended a SOLFIRE tabletop exercise at ABP Southampton.
Nine CHC staff attended Oil Spill Response refresher training in 2017 and early 2018.
A security exercise was hosted by the Cowes Security Committee and held at Isle of Wight Fuels covering a series of security
scenarios attended by representatives of the HM Coastguard, Red Funnel, Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service, Hampshire
Police, Isle of Wight Council, and PD Ports.
Oil Spill exercise deploying our stock of response equipment was held at Cowes Harbour Services Boatyard.
Quarterly security drills, and two Port Security Committee meetings were held.
CHC security plan was audited by the Department for Transport in compliance with the International Ship and Port Security Code.
Pilotage
CHC provides a pilotage service for vessels using the port in compliance with the 1987 Pilotage Act. CHC has four licenced Pilots,
including both Deputy Harbour Masters. The Deputy Harbour Master - Statutory acts as the principle Pilot. In 2017, 323 acts of
pilotage were conducted, a 3% increase on 2016 and our busiest pilotage year to date.
The main imports are stone, sea dredged aggregate and petroleum products, with exports of Isle of Wight grain and scrap metal.
Some cruise ships and passenger vessels also require the services of a Cowes Pilot.
The Solent Navigation and Pilotage Coordination Committee (SNPCC), comprising the pilotage authorities of Portsmouth International
Port, Portsmouth Dockyard Port, Southampton, Langstone and Cowes, met twice in 2017. The Solent Operators Group (SOG), which
considers detailed issues of navigational safety and analyses accident investigations in order to promulgate lessons learned between
all members, met four times in the year.
Safety Initiatives
The RNLI has set a goal to halve the number of coastal drownings by 2024. ‘Respect the Water’ is the national drowning prevention
campaign and CHC will continue to play a key role in helping them locally to achieve this. CHC was one of the fi rst UK harbour
authorities to be working jointly with the RNLI on promoting the Respect the Water campaign.
Annual Report 2017 - 2018
17