A coroner has written to the government to determine the owner of a shipwreck where a visitor drowned – so that safety warnings can be put in place.
Raymond Mills, 74, from Milton Keynes, died on 17 August while visiting the SS Vina wreck off the Brancaster coast in Norfolk.
In a prevention of future deaths report (PFDR), Norfolk senior coroner Samantha Goward said a lack of warning signs about tidal dangers – and information about who actually owned the wreck – meant “there was no system to ensure concerns can be raised”.
A Department for Transport spokesperson offered condolences to Mr Mills’ family, adding: “The department has received the coroner’s report and will respond in due course”.
An inquest in January found Mr Mills’ medical cause of death was ischaemic heart disease and drowning, with the coroner concluding that he died due to an accident caused by underlying natural causes.
Ms Goward’s report revealed that Mr Mills went under the water when the tide came in at the wreck, and he was later found unresponsive in the sea by search and rescue teams.
His family told an inquest there were no signs at the site of the shipwreck warning of the tidal dangers.
The coroner has written to Trinity House, the National Trust and Natural England to try and establish who owns the shipwreck and who is responsible for any warning signs.
However, she wrote, “this then triggered a whole series of correspondence, the outcome of which, is that no one seems to know who is responsible for the shipwreck,” said the coroner.
On 16 April, HM Coastguard “very helpfully” informed the coroner that the wreck was privately owned when it was requisitioned in World War Two by the Ministry of Defence, “but their records do not show who currently owns it but suggest that the Department for Transport (DfT) may be able to assist with ownership”.
Following her investigation, the coroner said she was “concerned that there is no safe system in place to ensure that an organisation is responsible for the management and safety of such shipwrecks which are accessible by members of the public.”
“In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you (and/or your organisation) have the power to take such action,” Ms Goward told the DfT.
The department now has to inform the coroner of changes it intends to make, provide a timetable for action or explain why no action is proposed.
