Dorset Belle involved in Bournemouth deaths sold to WeFerry and has been renamed as Dolphin Princess

The boat was impounded by police following the deaths of Joe Abbess, 17, from Southampton and Sunnah Khan, 12, who died at Bournemouth beach after they were suspected to have been up in a riptide next to the pier.

Eight others were also treated by paramedics due to the incident and Dorset Police seized the pleasure cruiser at its berth in Poole Harbour following the deaths.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) earlier this week released a statement that no boat was involved in the deaths.

The previous owners, Island Cruises, put the Dorset Belle up for sale after the local council suspended boat trips from the pier at the seaside resort following the fatal incident on May 31.

Now the boat, which has been repainted and renamed the Dolphin Princess, has been purchased by WeFerry/FunFish to be its flagship vessel for wildlife spotting trips and pleasure rides operating out of Brixham.

WeFerry owner John Ford said: ‘We feel for everyone involved in what has happened, it has ruined so many lives.

‘WeFerry are extremely proud to bring this beautiful flagship addition to the Funfish fleet.

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‘She will also be supporting local charity events and offering increased capacity to our extremely popular Fish n Chip cruises in partnership with Rockfish.’

The MAIB said in a statement on Tuesday: ‘Having conducted a thorough preliminary assessment of the circumstances of this tragic accident the MAIB has decided that no formal investigation will be launched.

‘This was a truly tragic accident but our understanding of the circumstances is that it did not involve a vessel and therefore is not something the branch would investigate.’

During the investigations, a man in his 40’s, who was believed to have been ‘on the water’ when the incident happened, was arrested but he was then released under investigation and the inquest found that the deaths were caused by drowning.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council have suspended boat operations from the pier.