Increase in Jetski Licences

 There’s been a 92% spike in new jetski licences in the wake of the pandemic.

That’s 9076 new jetski riders out on our waterways.

This surge in popularity of the craft has coincided with a spike in disruptive and dangerous behavior.

That’s why this weekend, NSW Maritime will be carrying out a safety blitz across all waterways in Greater Sydney.

The top five safety issues related to jetski use are:

irregular riding

speeding

unlicensed riding

not keeping a safe distance from other boats

failure to keep to the right.

We understand riding a jetski is a lot of fun, but please – cool your jets.

Help us make sure the water is a safe place for everyone.

Drone

 Are we using the right equipment in a sea search?

We have seen two search and rescue operation within the last week here on the South Coast of NSW. Significant assets have been deployed to search for a missing snorkeler and now a missing yacht abandoned by Marine Rescue to the mercy of the sea. It has caused a serious hazard to navigation as it drifts along the coast – either to sink, come ashore or to join the lonely mariner in the Southern Ocean.

The local Batemans Bay Boating Safety Officer mounted a search operation after the vessel was abandoned and did a search in difficult sea conditions but found nothing in the limited area covered.

Marine Rescue, Police Operations Centre, AMSA and Maritime were contacted by the Association to determine if any of these organisation knew the whereabouts of the abandoned vessel. Not one did and as of Monday had no intention of taking any action to find it.

Is Marine Rescue and Maritime currently using outdated technology and methods to look for vessels and people lost at sea along our coast?

Surf Life Saving NSW use drones to assist their operations patrol beaches, to spot sharks and on occasions drop aid to a swimmer in distress. They have a specialised aviation unit, the Australian UAV Service (AUAVS), for the state of the art Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) program they currently operate. Funds have come from the State Government to support this initiative.

These drones are small with limited endurance and facilities but the concept is not new. - See the Associations Facebook post of January 2018

https://www.facebook.com/BBBoaters/posts/447206285693841

The question is: has the technology advanced over the last three or four years? The answer is very defiantly yes. The use of long range spy and attack drones has been perfected by the American military for use to monitor the movement of questionable people and in some cases to “take them out”.

What about over water monitoring? The Royal Navy has recently launched their Puma monitoring drone from a small patrol navy vessel in the English channel to give them long range endurance “eyes in the sky” capabilities. It has been used for search and monitoring capabilities in a range of weather conditions. It is to be rolled out to other vessel in the near future.

So how about a Drone station at Nowra to assist with search operations along our NSW coast line? It would be much more effective than a pair of eyes on a vessel at sea level. It would be less expensive than a fixed wing or helicopter searching the coast line and could be used for other “strategic compliance operations as well as to assist combat agencies”.

We know the cops in Melbourne used drones to check that the citizens did not break lockdown laws. Drones are used for mapping in the outback. The Australian Army regularly use their Black Hornet, Wasp and Shadow drones in surveillance and reconnaissance operations. So why not have Marine Rescue and Maritime use drones to locate an abandoned yacht drifting in the Tasman Sea?

Can you suggest any reason why this is not a good idea which should be pursued?

Questions unanswered

The Association posed a number of question regarding the operational aspects of the Marine Rescue operation in saving a solo yachtsman last week and the abandoning of a so called “sinking” yacht along the south coast of NSW.

The questions raised were the following:

Who made the decision to leave the vessel to the mercy of the sea? Was it Marine Rescue instructing the master under some dubious police authority or was it made by the owner fearing legal liability?

• Who made the decision to leave the vessel to drift ashore or sink into the depths of a Marine Park?
• Did Marine Rescue place or activate an EPIRB on board to track the vessel?
• Did the vessel have an AIS safety device to tell other vessels its location, speed and direction?
• Has this operation been recorder as an AMSA incident and when?
• What notice to mariners has been issued regarding a “sinking” vessel in the area?
• Will Marine Rescue undertake a full, open and transparent incident and operational review of this incident?

The Association has made every effort to contact the sailor to establish the facts but has been stone walled by Marine Rescue refusing to provide information or update their social medial posts. They refer all enquiries to the Police Information Centre and Eden Police who also gave the Association the run around saying they know nothing.

Maritime Incident office was not aware of the situation and a search of their database returned nothing however the local BB Boating Safety Officer was aware of the incident and did a cursory search south of the rescue area on Saturday in difficult conditions. He took his brand new vessel for a spin. He speculates the abandoned yacht could be miles into the Tasman Sea and therefore not their responsibility. It could return months from now, still floating.

It appears that Marine Rescue is starting to cover their tracks and close the channels of communication. No-one is speaking. Some are just plain rude. The website has not been updated and no notice to local or State mariners has been issued as to the hazard to navigation of the yacht. Maritime and AMSA have not issued a statement.

So the questions still remain:

• What went wrong with the operation and why the stonewalling?
• Why does AMSA not know about a drifting vessel in the Tasman Sea?
• Why has Maritime not made the public aware of the dangers of an unlit drifting vessel along the coast?
• Who will be responsible for the cleanup if the vessel comes ashore or sinks in the marine park?

And the final very important question: When will the public who contribute significant funds to the assets and operational expense of Marine Rescue know the details of this incident?