The owner of a motor cruiser has been prosecuted in Weymouth after his vessel struck the Portland breakwater. Mr Rodney Shipley was fined &pound1500 for failing to keep a proper lookout and &pound1000 for offences relating to out of date pyrotechnics and other safety equipment infringements. Mr Shipley’s 50 foot motor yacht ‘Mandator’ struck the breakwater at high speed on the evening of October 28 2001 injuring one passenger and severely damaging the vessel. The three people aboard were rescued by the Weymouth Lifeboat.

A spokesman from the Southampton Marine Office said: “Mr Shipley endangered himself and his passengers both by passing so close to the breakwater at speed and in the dark without keeping a proper lookout, and by failing to ensure that vital safety equipment was in good order. Fortunately the prompt response of the RNLI meant that (he) did not need to call upon this equipment after the accident.”