I would like to petition the RNLI to back our campaign and believe they would benefit by backing our request for CCTV for Ferries. Some time ago they scrambled 4 LIFEBOATS in a SEARCH for someone reported overboard. CCTV would have shown if had happened.

Captain Colin Smith: The question is "does RNLI get any funding from ferry operators!" If so then I can understand RNLI's reluctance to join a campaign that would be against pecuniary self-interest. I always thought they depended upon funding from non-corporates sources.i.e. myself. I'd certainly review my position if I found that it was buckling to corporate pressure. This initiative has such obvious benefits at so little cost that I'm astonished that it has not been put into effect. One incident would fund the retrofitting of such a system. I have responded to MoB alarms where knowing "when and where" would have shaved hours off response times and miles off deviations. As for knowing how many people are on board, I can tell you that BCFC works on a 3% margin of error. This means that, with ship carrying up to 2200 passengers, knowing the passenger count is meaningless, and the ship has to be thoroughly searched BEFORE a search can be initiated. What a luxury it would be to be able to review the external CCTV tapes for the voyage at high speed to confirm somebody really did go overboard, whilst running at a slow bell to await results.