Boating Safety Checks at Trout Festival

6:44 AM Mon 3 Nov 2008 GMT

A boating safety campaign timed to coincide with the Snowy Mountains Trout Festival at the weekend saw 129 vessels checked for safety compliance, NSW Maritime Regional Manager South Coast Craig Whitmore said.

Mr Whitmore said the majority of boaters were generally well behaved and complied with maritime safety regulations.

'NSW Maritime Boating Safety Officers conducted spot checks on 129 vessels on the main lakes in the area,' Mr Whitmore said.

'In all, 63 vessels were checked in Lake Burrunjuck over the three-day fishing festival, with 66 vessels checked in Lakes Eucumbene and Jindabyne collectively.

'The most common problem was not understanding the requirements for navigation lighting at night - with four Victorian skippers fined.

'Additionally, there were two fines handed out to skippers who failed to carry the correct number or correct type of lifejacket required.'

Mr Whitmore said there were a high number of vessels which did not have any emergency signalling device on board. In all, seven formal warnings were given over the weekend.

'NSW Maritime will work with Marine Safety Victoria to ensure the message gets through to the boating community about the need for the correct installation and use of navigation lights when boating after dark,' he said.

NSW Maritime worked with Police and Fisheries to make boating safety a key focus during the festival.

In conjunction with Police, 16 vessel skippers were randomly breath-tested, all of which returned a negative result and were under the 0.05 limit.

www.maritime.nsw.gov.au

by AAP MediaNet