OWNERS of a cross-Solent passenger ferry, whose deck collapsed injuring four people, were warned routine maintenance was not being carried out nine months before the accident, an investigation has found.

A report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said there were weaknesses in the way Wightlink operated its vessels.

MAIB report found a lack of routine maintenance contributed to the accident, in which a wire rope gave way, and that concerns had been highlighted beforehand.

As reported, the St Helen ferry was at the Fishbourne ferry terminal on the Isle of Wight on July 18, 2014, when the deck, which was being lowered to prepare to disembark cars onboard, collapsed.

A crewman was knocked unconscious and three passengers seated in their cars suffered minor injuries.

Vehicles on the lower deck had already left the ferry, which had set sail from Portsmouth with 181 passengers and 11 crew on board.

A report said the deck collapsed when its inboard steel wire ramping rope “suddenly parted”.

Analysis after the incident found that the wire rope had suffered significant mechanical wear primarily caused by abrasion due to a lack of lubrication, the report said.

The investigation found weaknesses in the way Wightlink had managed the day-to-day maintenance of its vessels and in particular their mezzanine decks.

This was despite them being subject to regular inspections and a mandatory six-monthly examination by a surveyor.

The report says Wightlink was aware of many of the safety issues and contributing factors highlighted by the investigation.This included a formal mezzanine deck greasing routine which had not been in place for two years.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency had highlighted this nine months before the accident and the failure to lubricate the steel wire lifting ropes had been identified during the six-monthly examinations.

The report said: “Given this knowledge, and the potential consequences of a rope parting, Wightlink demonstrated little or no appetite to allocate the resources necessary to resolve this long-standing issue.”

Failure to maintain the decks “allowed the material condition of the collapsed deck to deteriorate to a dangerously unsafe condition.”

Wightlink’s policy was to replace wire ropes after four years, but the rope that broke was four years and three months old, the investigation found.

The report said if the deck had been overhauled and its lifting ropes replaced during St Helen’s refit in April 2014, the accident would not have happened.

Wightlink accepted a recommendation of the Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents just days after the accident to put in place a maintenance programme for the steel wire lifting rope and get independent checks that the decks on its vessels were in sound condition. It conducted immediate inspections of all its vessels operating this equipment and replaced a number of ropes, retired St Helen from service and now has a formal monthly greasing schedulehas introduced a 30-month wire rope replacement schedule and mezzanine deck inspections.

It has also contracted the manufacturers to do annual inspections.