SKIPPERS URGED TO CHECK WEATHER FOLLOWING SPIKE IN ON-WATER DEATHS IN WA

BY MARLI RYAN

Western Australian skippers are being urged to make weather conditions a priority before heading out on the water, after boating fatalities rose by nearly 60 percent over the past decade.

According to the Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure, the annual average number of on-water deaths has increased from 4.6 to 7.3.

Investigations into these fatalities found that weather was a significant contributing factor.

To address the issue, the department has launched a five-year public education campaign, Weather or Not, which aims to help skippers better interpret forecasts and assess risks.

The program focuses on providing practical tools to improve decision-making on the water.

Graeme Meinema, Waterways Safety Management Director at the department, told Ngaarda Media that the first year of the campaign is focused on waves, seas, and swell.

He said that many skippers fail to consider how swell can add to sea height and create dangerous conditions.

“As an example, you know, north-northeast winds 15 knots with a sea of 1.5 meters. However, there's also the additional swell they're not taking into consideration,” he said.

“So if you had a three-meter swell underneath that wind, you would actually have four and a half meters of sea. And that's why we've gone and produced the very simple graph… which shows the length of vessel when those weather conditions would suit that size of vessel, and when to be cautious.”

The department hopes the campaign will reduce preventable deaths and encourage skippers to make weather a key safety consideration.

Listen to Ngaarda Media’s Marli Ryan speak with Graeme Meinema: