Boat owners are being urged to avoid using portable gas camping stoves, lamps and heaters on board boats because of the risks of explosions, fire and carbon monoxide.

Boat owners are being urged to avoid using portable gas camping stoves, lamps and heaters on board boats because of the risks of explosions, fire and carbon monoxide.

The alert from the Boat Safety Scheme follows yet another gas stove explosion, this time in the close confines of a tent on a North Wales campsite, which is very similar to an explosion on a boat on the Norfolk Broads in 2010. The BSS says such equipment is designed to be used in the open air and is not suitable for use in the limited space of a boat cabin where both explosions and carbon monoxide would have disastrous consequences.

With the recent hot weather, the BSS has also issued a reminder to never use a barbecue on board a boat – take it ashore to avoid the twin risks of fire and carbon monoxide poisoning.

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