Observe sea safety measures

TIME and time again, authorities have been calling on boat owners, operators and passengers in maritime provinces to exercise responsibility and comply with sea safety measures.
One does not need to consult an encyclopedia to consult when it comes to exercising some form of responsibility and comply with safety measures at sea including not travelling in bad weather, not overloading, carrying extra fuel, life jackets and some form of communication device.
We have people travelling in overloaded dinghies loaded with building materials, food items, bags or betel nuts and there is no care by boat operators to adjust so they comply with safety regulations.
Boat operators must know their load limit which is supposed to be a monitoring mechanism used for load capacity.
Most times, people along the coast don’t take heed of weather warnings and venture out during windy conditions thinking they are seafarers and know how to sail through it all.
The first and the most important information to look out for is the marine weather warning.
This warning announces potential dangers that you might face and will help you decide whether to continue with your boating plans or not.
It is those who live along the coast that want to try their skills against Mother Nature and sometimes end up as statistics.
People die reasonably frequently in open-sea banana-boat crossings and you will need to exercise common sense before boarding one.

Don’t consider a trip in rough weather or if the boat is dangerously overloaded.
One cause of why dinghies capsize out at sea is when a bigger engine is mounted.
Dinghies should be in good condition to operate and most dinghies capsized because of overloading or technical problems.
Remember that these boats usually do not carry life jackets or any kind of safety equipment.
The call to adhere to weather conditions follows recent boating accidents reported in Daru, Morobe, New Ireland and Madang.
The government knows how much it costs to conduct searches and rescue operations when people encounter mishaps at sea and that is why through the National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) has been calling on small boat owners and operations to practise sea safety especially during windy periods.
On the other hand, NMSA must be commended also for awareness they conduct along the coastal villagers.
They can only do so much, the final call on venturing out to seas in any day rests entirely up to the boat owners and operators.
NMSA is also passing the responsibility to provinces to take full responsibility and ownership to ensure the Small Craft Act (SCA) 2011 is effectively implemented and administered to improve and promote sea safety for small boat owners, operators and passengers, including those transporting betel nuts by sea.
Failure to comply can result in severe penalties under the Small Craft Act.
Any boat owner, operators and passengers caught breaching this Act, necessary penalties will be applied accordingly.
The number of lives lost of sea due will continue to increase because carelessness by small boat owners, operators and passengers.
There just has been too many unnecessary loss of lives at sea.
It needs to be stopped.