Since the loss of the yacht Ouzo and itsrncrew in August 2006 the shipping community has been paying close attention to the various investigations, research projects and inquiries that were held to further understanding of that fateful night's events. Lessons can be learned both from the perspective of P&O ferry Pride of Bilbao and from that of the yacht.rnOne life-saving appliance considered in the UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report was the lifejacket.rnThe MAIB reported that the three men from Ouzo were wearing yachting clothing that would have given protection. It noted: "Each person was also found wearing an inflated lifejacket, one of which had been inflated automatically while the other two had been manually inflated".rnAccording to a report by a survival specialist, commissioned by the MAIB, only one memberrnof the three-strong yacht crew had his lifejacket fitted correctly. Once they fell unconscious, the other two seafarers would have received "little beneficial support" from their Iiiejackets.rnAccording to the same report these two men could have survived for at least three hours, whereas the seafarer with the more tightly secured lifejacket ought to have been able to survive for more than 12 hours. The report found that the lifejackets did not appear to have been secured tightly enough, because the seafarers' clothes would have lost some of their bulk when they got wet, resulting in the loosening of the lifejacket straps.
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