The recommendations come in a report into a Thames collision between a high-performance RIB and a passenger ferry, which calls on the government to introduce drink-drive limits for skippers.
Also, “taking into account the increased activity expected on the river during 2012”, for the PLA to impose a mandatory speed limit at areas of risk on the river.
Both crew members of the inflatable Morfil were thrown into the water when it collided with the passenger ferry Sun Clipper by Blackfriars Bridge on June 1st last year. The crew was rescued by a local inshore lifeboat.
The report found that action taken by Sun Clipper's master to avoid the collision was limited by closeness to the bridge and mooring buoys.
Work going on under the bridge meant both vessels were using the same arch and the skippers could not to see each other until about ten seconds before the collision.
The MAIB said there had been at least 45 fatalities resulting from accidents to pleasure vessels over the last six years in which alcohol had been a contributory factor, adding: "It was extremely fortunate that a further two fatalities did not result from this collision."
