Y2020-02 Boating accident at a public event in the Hanko harbour on 8 August 2020

An accident occurred at the Poker Run boating event held in front of the Hanko harbour on Saturday 8 August 2020, in which a child in one of the spectator boats died. The accident occurred when the driver of a boat that was participating in a speed test lost control at the speed of approximately 100 knots, and the boat ran into the spectator boats.

There were deficiencies in the planning and arrangements of the public event. Better marking of the speed test track, the choice of location, safety distances, a boat inspection procedure and instructing the participants and the public would have been crucial with regard to the accident. Safety planning requirements are derived from the Assembly Act, the Rescue Act and the Consumer Safety Act, which require certain documents from the event organiser as proof that the planning has been appropriate. There was no written plan for the speed test.

Versatile event organisation expertise is required for the planning and implementation of a safe event that meets the requirements. The requirements are also unnecessarily complex and overlap each other, which may take the attention away from the essence. The authorities do not know each other’s control procedures and requirements on event organisers very well.

The boat involved in the accident was registered for use in ordinary water traffic. The boat did not have an accelerator foot pedal typical of racing boats, which made it less safe. In addition, the string of the safety switch was too long. The number of high performance boats is growing, which may cause risks. The technical requirements on boats as well as the requirements on drivers are fairly permissive.

The Safety Investigation Authority repeats the three recommendations issued during previous investigations, according to which:

• The Ministry of the Interior (police and rescue services) and the Ministry of Employment and the Economy clarify the safety requirements for mass gatherings and make them available at a “single service point” and in a single, comprehensive safety plan. The requirements must be understandable and simple for event organisers.

• The Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency Tukes must show initiative and present the need for the simplification and streamlining of the requirements of the authorities to the relevant ministries and authorities. In connection to this, Tukes must plan what kind of co-operation is required for the creation of an event database. The purpose of the database is to guide event organisers in entering the basic and safety planning details of the event into the database, allowing the information to be distributed to the different authorities.

• The Ministry of the Interior (police and rescue services) and the Ministry of Employment and the Economy ensure that event organisers have access to a set of safety training materials that are not limited to any specific administrative branch, and, for example, an (online) course whose successful completion would qualify course takers to act as safety managers of mass events. Event organisers must be familiar with the applicable legislation and the principles of safety planning and management.

In addition, the Safety Investigation Authority recommends that:

• Together with the other authorities supervising events, the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes) ensure that in motorsport events and other similar events involving high kinetic energy, the event organiser is always required to provide reports and plans based on calculations or applicable rules of the sport concerning the safety distances and structures implemented to protect the public and the officials.

• The Ministry of Transport and Communications take the trend of increasing numbers of fast boats in slower traffic into account in the traffic safety strategy, the amendments to the Water Traffic Act as well as other future solutions. The issue requires active monitoring and potentially some measures to improve safety.