MAKING WAVES

The facts don't lie. Of the 174 boating fatalities in NSW in the past decade, just over half resulted from a person falling overboard or a vessel capsizing. Drowning was the primary cause of death, and only seven per cent of victims were known to have been wearing a lifejacket. It follows then, that lifejacket laws need revising. Faced with mounting criticism about our lax state, Ports and Waterways Minister Joe Tripodi has called for public comment on a new discussion paper outlining what he describes as ��the most sweeping reforms to lifejacket rules in more than 30 years��. The reforms are aimed at recreational boaters in situations of heightened risk, especially children and boaters in tinnies. Maritime is not making the wearing of lifejackets compulsory at all times, because it acknowledges that not all boating activities carry a similar risk. Taking a tinnie offshore has a significantly higher risk than sitting inside a motor cruiser in a quiet bay, for example. But the proposed changes do stipulate that a lifejacket be worn at all times by children under 10 years old in a vessel under 4.8 metres in length; by children under 10 when under way in the open area of a boat less than 8m; when waterskiing or wakeboarding; when in a vessel less than 4.8m during heightened risk situations such as at night, when alone, and on ocean waters. We have no beef with any of this, nor has the Boat Owners Association. Discussion Paper and online feedback form at www.maritime.nsw.gov.au. Boat Owners Association president Michael Chapman says the measures are a breakthrough and should be supported.

National Briefing

CRASH REPORT HUMAN error and a lack of navigation lights on the private motor cruiser MV Merinda contributed to its fatal collision with a ferry under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, a year-long investigation has found. The report by the Office of Transport Safety Investigations also found that the ferry Pam Burridge had been travelling too fast and off-course just before the accident, which claimed four lives.

Cruiser In Trouble

A NEW motor cruiser had to be towed back to the Newcastle marina from off Stockton Beach yesterday after its engine began blowing smoke.

River Motor Cruiser Explosion

Police are investigating an explosion which destroyed a motor cruiser boat on the Currambene River, at Myola, on Saturday. A man who heard the explosion at 4am found thick smoke and flames coming from the boat which had broken its moorings. The NSW Fire Brigade from Callala Bay attended but