Skippers put on notice

Skippers and boat owners in the Pilbara are being encouraged to check their vessel registrations after a string of infringement notices were issued on Pilbara waterways recently.

Department of Transport safety compliance officers conducting on-water and ramp inspections issued 12 infringements at Karratha from December 29-30, including seven for unregistered vessels.

DoT regional operations manager John Drummond said the high number of unregistered vessels was a cause for concern. He said it was the skipper’s responsibility to check the vessel’s registration before going on the water, and they faced a $160 fine for going boating without a current registration.

“Current registration of a vessel ensures that important information and contact details are up to date and that your vessel can be easily located or identified by authorities in the event of an emergency,” he said.

Mr Drummond said the DoT website contained all the relevant information to make it easy for a vessel to be registered, or a registration renewed. He said registration fees went towards boating facilities, including jetties and launching ramps.