Medic boat club stopped on way to Belgium for being too drunk
The annual trip to Leuven ended abruptly at Dover when students were sent home
Last week’s ICSM Boat club’s annual trip to Belgium ended before it really even began – at the ferry port in Dover.
Current medics and alumni were prevented by P&O ferry staff from boarding the boat which would have taken them to mainland Europe, as they were too drunk.
The students tried to board the 4:50am ferry from Dover to Calais but were “drunk and disorderly” according to port staff. P&O ferries took the decision not to allow the students to travel when they were scheduled to.
In an email, sent as the students were heading back to London having been turned away, the club’s captain told members that “[P&O] were willing for us to be allowed on after a 2-3 hour wait. Unfortunately, the coach drivers were unwilling to co-operate, hence are currently driving us back to London”.
The trip from Hammersmith to Dover had not been without issue. The coach company’s depot manager was first contacted by the driver at 3:30am over the students’ behaviour. The coach left Hammersmith as scheduled at a quarter past midnight on Saturday. The coach company alleges that some students caused damage at Maidstone service station, which P&O ferries confirmed. The boat club denies that there were any complaints made during the planned stop in Maidstone.
The boat club was told by P&O that they could take a slightly later ferry, but as the coach driver was getting close to his legal driving limit time, this would be impossible. The Dover port police were called, to help the coach get out of the one way system before the group were driven back to Hammersmith. Upon returning, the group tried to book another coach in an attempt to save the short weekend trip, but could not.
Drinking was heavy on the trip, with some rowers reportedly having port bottles strapped to their arms, that they weren’t allowed to remove until the bottles were finished.
The trip, which cost £80 per ticket, involved two coaches and 100 students, who each pay £70 per year for club membership.
Some students had previously arranged to fly or take the train to Leuven instead. These members got to their destination without a hitch.
This news comes after last year’s shenanigans on the same club’s annual Leuven trip, when a coach window was smashed on the way to Dover. Although the person responsible was an alumni student, the whole club was suspended during Imperial College Union’s investigation.
The ICSM President and boat club declined to comment on this year’s incident. The tweet printed here suggests the club has not been issued with a ban. A representative of Imperial College Union told us they “had been informed and are investigating”.
