SHIP owners and operators engaged in practices such as overloading during this festive season are liable to face criminal charges, the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji has revealed.
With thousands of people due to travel to and from the outer islands to spend Christmas and New Year with their loved ones, MSAF chief executive officer John Tunidau said it would closely monitor passenger ships this festive season to ensure there was no breach of the maritime legislation which endanger passengers and crew.
“Overloading of passenger ships is an offence and is unsafe, and ship owners/operators/masters who engage in this practice are liable to face criminal charges and administrative action in accordance with the Maritime Transport Decree, 2013,” Mr Tunidau said.
“All ships must also ensure they have all the required life saving equipment such as life jackets and life rafts and passengers and crew are made aware on how to access them during emergencies.
“Furthermore, non-compliance with the maritime legislation could result in criminal prosecution, suspension or cancellation of master’s Certification of Competency, detention of the ship and up to $100,000 in fines.”
Members of the public who are travelling to the outer islands are also urged to heed safety rules and precautionary measures when travelling on inter-island ships.
Goundar Shipping Ltd director George Goundar said overloading was a huge problem they had recently encountered and he hoped it would be addressed by MSAF in the appropriate manner.-
This, he said was a huge problem on Kadavu last week where people went on board Lomaiviti Princess 3 and “held the vessel hostage” for four hours and they did not allow them to do operations of offloading cargo and boarding passengers.
“So we have gone up to MSAF and they have agreed to provide a marine checker on board the vessel when the boat goes on every Kadavu trip,” Mr Goundar said.
“We need to play partners with other stakeholders such as police and MSAF in this busy period.”
He added there needed to be some understanding and a bit of common sense especially when they dealt with cases of those travelling from outer islands where boats travel only once a month.