Rowing club raises concerns about river speed limits in CBD reach

Footage captured of a jetskier travelling on the Brisbane River at high speeds – but under the speed limit – has sparked fierce debate. WATCH THE VIDEO, VOTE IN OUR POLL

A jetskier has been filmed ripping along the Brisbane River on Sunday with a local rowing club calling into question the current speed limits for personal watercraft vessels.

In the video supplied, two riders can be seen aboard a jetski travelling at speed along the Kangaroo Point section of the Brisbane River.

In a video supplied by The Courier-Mail and analysed by Water police, it’s estimated the speed of the jet ski is around 33 knots, which is under the Brisbane River speed limit of 40 knots.

Andrew McNicol from Brisbane and GPS rowing club “the speed is excessive for this type of craft.”

“The speed limit may be 40 knots at this part of the river, and the jet ski was travelling under the limit [but] this does not remove the requirement that the jet ski should be operated in a safe manner for both the driver of the ski and other water users,” Mr McNicol said.

“I personally feel that this speed is excessive for this type of craft. There is a lot of debris in the river now and if they had to manoeuvre around submerged logs and branches, they put other people at risk such as rowers who cannot get out of their way if they collide with a submerged object.”

Concerns have been raised about the speed of jet skis in the CBD reach of the Brisbane River. Photo: supplied

Mr McNicol said people using the river have an obligation to share it with other users.

“The person on this jet ski appears to show no consideration for other water uses by choosing to operate at such a high speed from an inherently unstable craft,” he said.

And calls on water users to be considerate of other users of the river as it is a shared facility.

Drivers of personal watercraft vessels must adhere to water rules or be hit with hundreds of dollars in fines by water police, and to slow down to 6 knots when near construction and yellow buoys.

Water Police Sergeant Paul Ryan said police received complaints about the wake from boats and jet skis causing damage to people’s pontons along the river.

“The max is 40 knots on the river [and] there are certain times to go slow because of work and they will be 6 knots and they are marked by yellow buoys,” Mr Ryan said.

“[The jet ski] is heading towards Felons and the Story Bridge and once he goes around the corner and under the bridge on the portside is the Hallmans jetty and there is the yellow buoys where the construction starts,” Sgt Paul Ryan said.

A PWC must reduce speeds to no more than 6 knots when within 60m of people in the water, anchored or moored boats, structures, boat ramps, jetties or pontoons and construction. Or at the boundary of a bathing reserve and 60m from the shore, failing to do so can result in a $464 fine.

Mr Ryan said jet skis have different offences to boats as they “have to be a certain distance from person in water and person of anchor and boats”.

Jet skis must keep a distance of 30m from any other moving ship or reduce speed to less than 10 knots unless involved in an approved aquatic vent or where doing so would endanger the driver of the other person.

In coastal waters, freestyling and wave jumping is restricted to beyond 200m of the shore if homes are within 100m of the shoreline line.

However exceptions apply only to the 60m from shore line rule if the waterway is less than 120m wide and the PWC is as close as practical to a straight line to transit the area and staying as close as possible to the centre of the waterway or marked channel. Or if the watercraft is being used in waterskiing or towing.