Mayo County Council was responsible for two-thirds of the loss arising from a passenger ferry grounding near Roonagh Harbour, the High Court ruled, finding that defective navigation lights were the principal cause of the accident. The ferry’s operators were assigned the remaining third because the skipper did not slow down or deploy a lookout and searchlight in time.
The ruling by Mr Justice Hanna followed settlement of passenger Mary Heanue’s personal injury claim. The second and third defendants, Clare Island and Clew Bay Cruises Limited and skipper Christopher O’Grady, had settled her claim for €73,250, with costs of €47,691.18. The proceedings before the court concerned liability between the defendants, not the amount of Ms Heanue’s settlement.
The Pirate Queen struck rocks while approaching Roonagh Harbour on the night of 20 December 2011. The court found that the green pier light was not working that evening and that all six bulbs in the lower leading light had blown. The rear leading light was functioning, but the judge found it provided no clear guidance in the poor visibility and weather conditions. The court also found that other visible lighting was insufficient to guide the ferry into the harbour.
The skipper had been told during the voyage that the green light was out. The judge accepted that O’Grady expected the leading lights to be working and did not fault his decision to attempt the landing. However, once he realised the lower leading light was also out, he should have reduced speed to about two or two and a half knots and deployed the searchlight and crew member Joe O’Malley as a lookout sooner. The delay contributed to the ferry overshooting the harbour mouth and being carried onto the rocks.
The judge found shortcomings in the council’s maintenance system. Inspections and repairs were largely ad hoc, the principal operative had received no training or written instructions, and there were no annual maintenance reports. The court concluded that the green light was probably out because its battery had not been properly checked, while the blown bulbs in the lower leading light had not been anticipated, detected or repaired. The defective lighting regime created a significant danger and materially contributed to the grounding.
The judge apportioned responsibility two-thirds to Mayo County Council and one-third to the ferry operators. The judgment determined liability between the defendants following the passenger’s settlement; it did not revisit that settlement.