Call to fit carbon monoxide detectors after tragedy

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is calling on boat owners to fit carbon monoxide detectors after two men tragically lost their lives in January 2022 aboard sports cruiser Emma Louise, while tied up at Port Hamble Marina.

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The two men were found unconscious on the morning of January 12 in the cockpit of the 5.5m motorboat after exhaust fumes containing odourless carbon monoxide (CO) were funnelled into the covered cockpit, the MAIB said in its recent report.

The report calls on industry stakeholders to raise awareness with boat owners of the dangers of CO poisoning to reduce the increasing number of fatalities.

The owner of Emma Louse, William Traynor, 44, and his brother-in-law Martin Steventon, 39, both from Slough, had intended to stay overnight on the boat, moored at a pontoon in the marina. They had switched the engine on around 1700 on 11 January and left the engine running, likely to maintain power to some of the boat’s systems.