6 January 2022
The tragedy of sea accidents and the repetitive loss of lives in boating incidents demands legislation and operation procedures for boat owners and for passengers in boats.
I wrote earlier today about the reported 14 missing passengers from a small boat that set sail from Gizo to Choiseul on New Year’s Day.
Sadly the body of a female passenger from that same craft has been found by police and recovered from the sea
One must hope the remaining 13 passengers, including children, will still be found well and safe.
There have been, over the years, far too many tragic boat incidents involving the loss of life of large numbers of boat passengers. I believe such incidents could well have been avoided if only boat owners, operators and boat passengers abided by safety at sea legislation and a code of conduct.
I am not alone in such thinking and the Prime Minister once called for the kind of legislation and safety rules to be formulated and issued. It would seem that advice was not implemented.
Today, I was contacted by a sea captain with over 350,000 nautical miles experience living in the Solomon Islands and who has, in the past, installed safety and communications equipment in Temotu that has saved the lives of many venturing out to sea.
The captain has offered to travel to Honiara to meet with government officials and help draw up the kind of legislation that is clearly needed.
I would be willing to put government officials in touch with the gentleman who desires to aid the SIG in bringing in the safety instructions as soon as possible.
Please write to me via the link on my website – www.solomonislandsinfocus.com, or contact me via email - yahoo2002@yahoo.com.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
