Dear Editor,
The Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) takes this opportunity to respond to a letter in the Stabroek News on page 6 of Thursday October 16, 2014 which was captioned `Overloaded speed boat from Wakenaam was forced to let off some passengers during journey’.
MARAD expresses its thanks to those passengers and other members of the public who highlighted this issue of unsafe practice. It has since been investigated and even more stringent measures have been adopted to eradicate the incidence of such occurrences.
An overloaded boat is generally unsafe by virtue of its reduced stability and reduced freeboard. These together makes it less able to resist waves and more likely to be swamped.
MARAD would like to reassure the public that continuous efforts are being made to ensure safety on our waterways and it has recently introduced a telephone hotline number (226-9970), whereby members of the public can express their concerns about the condition of boats and their equipment, the level of service by boat operators and generally to report any unsafe practice on our waterways.
Members of the public can call MARAD’s hotline number of 226-9970.
Yours faithfully,
Akousa McPherson
Communications Officer
Maritime Administration
Department
