According to McCurdy there is an urgent need of independent investigation of the response by federal authorities to a number of high-profile at-sea tragedies in recent years. He said that there are a lot of unanswered questions and internal reviews are not a substitute for a proper third party evaluation of emergency response capabilities and procedures.
McCurdy’s comment comes after a recent Provincial Court decision on charges laid against the Captain of a fishing vessel involved in a tragic accident at sea. He told that the Captain of the Melina and Keith II was subject to the full scrutiny of the courts and the news media. He informed that there has been no public scrutiny of the response system of the federal authorities, but close examination is clearly required.
According to McCurdy the Union is not interested in a “finger-pointing” exercise, but wants a full review of the response procedures and capabilities to make sure that the best possible search and rescue procedures are in place to deal with future emergencies. He pointed out that there has been significant loss of life in these incidents to the point that an independent review is required that would include recommendations to improve our search and rescue capabilities and procedures in the future.
McCurdy told that the tendency of regulatory agencies is to respond to fatal accidents by adding further regulations and “unattainable manning requirements” on vessel owners. He suggests that the agencies need to spend a little more time looking inward and a little less time drawing up regulations.
