Jet skiers be warned – you’re being watched.
With the boating season about to start, authorities are warning that they are clamping down on dangerous behaviour on the waterways.
Roads and Maritime Services executive director Angus Mitchell was at Sans Souci Marine Centre today to warn that dangerous behaviour will not be tolerated.
“Our officers keep the boating community safe. To see them being threatened is alarming and a cause for concern,” he said.
“Operating dangerously on NSW waterways is illegal.
“Roads and Maritime Services carries out daily patrols of the Georges River, including acting on tip offs and following up on CCTV footage from cameras along the shore.”
Only people with personal watercraft licenses can use jet skis on the river.
“We don’t want the behaviour of an unruly few to impact on the majority who do the right thing,” Mr Mitchell said.
“However, if a minority of users who continue to breach maritime safety legislation and fail to get the message about safe and respectful behaviour, then their actions jeopardise the ongoing enjoyment of all users.”
Matt Rowe, 21, was injured when his his boat and a jet ski collided on Saturday morning. He remains in St George Hospital in a serious but stable condition. The 45-year-old male jet ski rider suffered serious back and hand injuries.
In another incident on the river at Revesby on the same day, two boating safety officers were left fearing for their lives on Saturday afer a jet skier accelerated at their patrol boat. The incident is under investigation. The jet ski was confiscated under powers that came into effect in 2016 to improve safety for all boaters.
