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Aug 21, 2013 News
Following a risk analysis, the Essequibo and Pomeroon Rivers have been tagged as the riskiest for speedboat operations. As such, the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) has mobile teams carrying out regular exercises in those areas.
This is according to Captain Stephen Thomas, Director of Maritime Safety, who said MARAD is preparing to open an office at Charity, Region Two, to allow a permanent presence to enforce compliance with licencing of vessels.
He said it was observed that within recent years a lot of speedboat accidents occurred in those areas. For instance, in January, two boats collided in the Mazaruni River resulting in the loss of lives. The incident was as a result of speed and failure of both boats to observe anti-collision measures that included right-of-way. And, in June, several persons, many without life jackets, were injured after a speedboat crashed off Kaow Island in the Essequibo River.
Speaking on the licencing of small passenger boats, he said this aspect is pertinent to ensuring marine safety and as such, is an ongoing activity across the country. He noted there are about 300 licenced speedboats countrywide.
According to Captain Thomas, MARAD’s Cadet Officers, in collaboration with marine police, execute spontaneous visits in the Pomeroon, Essequibo and North West District to ensure captains are certified and vessels are licenced. If there are breaches, the captains are warned and random checks have proven that in most cases they comply, he added.
He said operating a speedboat is inherently a dangerous occupation and the challenges could reduce with adequate enforcement and compliance with marine regulations. Even with strong enforcement many persons still operate in a reckless manner endangering the lives of their passengers, Captain Thomas said.
Frequently, MARAD is engaged in sensitizing activities such as the distribution of fliers and visiting schools to educate citizens of what is required of them when travelling via river. For example, passengers must at all times wear lifejackets and boat operators must keep right of the river’s channel when coming and the reciprocal direction when going.
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Wishing Captain Thomas and his team success with their opreation and hope that the boat operators realize that lives(including their own) are more valuable than money
I visited Guyana two years ago and to my surprise found it very difficult to get a boat operator to understand that the boat was overloaded and not safe.He had the required amount of passengers but several heavy suitcases.The authorities need to look into this area too.