AN HISTORIC Scarborough pleasure cruiser should now be allowed to sail to Whitby, according to European officials.

Last year the MV Coronia, which helped with the Dunkirk evacuation, was prevented from making daily trips to the port under a British interpretation of EU regulations.

But now, in a written response to one of the region’s MEPs, the European Commission has given the Coronia the green light to make the trips to Whitby.

Under UK law, vintage pleasure cruisers are banned from travelling more than 15 nautical miles from their port of departure.

When challenged over this law, the Department of Transport previously stated it was following EU law.

But the letter to Edward McMillan-Scott MEP revealed the UK government had devised its own interpretation of the law which had placed cruisers such as the Coronia under threat.

The boat’s owner Tom Machin, 65, last year spent £130,000 to bring the vessel up to the highest safety standards and said the ban had meant a loss of up to £50,000 of earnings over the last two summer seasons.

He said: “I am delighted to have confirmation on the public record that it is Whitehall, not Brussels, which has ruined my livelihood and the pleasure of thousands.”

EU Safety Laws actually stated that vessels are required to be 15 nautical miles from “a place of refuge”, while the UK law only allowed cruisers to be 15 nautical miles from their port of departure.

This interpretation forced the MV Coronia to be confined to trips around Scarborough Harbour instead of its regular trips to Whitby, which, at a distance of 17 nautical miles, is above the UK limit.

The boat’s plight generated a groundswell of support from members of the public, as well as politicians, and 13,000 people signed a petition in protest.

Mr McMillan-Scott said the petition remained unansweredby the Government, as have the many letters and emails written by him and Scarborough’s MP Robert Goodwill to the outgoing transport secretary, Ruth Kelly.

He renewed his call for the decision to be reversed. He said: “The European Commission’s confirmation places the blame squarely on to the UK Government for putting the livelihood of these Yorkshire pleasure cruisers under threat.

“The Government can no longer ignore the fact that they can also do something about it by simply following EU maritime safety laws, which protect vessel owners, their crews and passengers, but allow for the slightly longer journeys that will keep the MV Coronia, and others like her, in business.

“The MV Coronia has lost two seasons’ worth of earnings while the Bridlington boat, Yorkshire Belle, has been seriously affected this summer by a very poor bureaucratic decision by the UK Government.

“I will now be applying, on their behalf, for compensation for loss of earnings.”

Coronia’s clippings:

• Built in Great Yarmouth and named Brit in 1935;
• Carried holidaymakers to see seals along the North Sea coast of Norfolk for first five years;
• Renamed HM Tender Watchful after outbreak of Second World War and became base ship for the fleet;
• Carried supplies and ammunition to destroyers and had a gun turret fitted on foredeck;
• On May 29, 1940, rescued a reported 900 troops as part of the Dunkirk evacuation;
• Reverted to original name after war and once more operated as pleasure cruiser;
• Went to Scarborough and renamed Yorkshire Lady and later Coronia II in 1951;
• Refitted in Scotland in 1975;
• Sailed to Gibraltar in 1985 where it gave trips around the bay;
• Bought by North Sea Leisure and travelled back to Scarborough in 1992.

From The Scarborough Evening News on Thursday, October 2, 2008.