Blitz on boaties aimed at keeping safety afloat

MORE than 1000 boat skippers have been breath-tested and more than 1000 vessels given safety checks in a two-day water safety blitz across NSW.

Breath Test

MORE than 1000 boat skippers have been breath-tested and more than 1000 vessels given safety checks in a two-day water safety blitz across NSW.

Police, Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) boating safety officers and NSW fisheries officers conducted the blitz over the weekend to mark the start of a busy summer on the state's waters.

Officers had conducted more than 1040 vessel safety checks by lunchtime yesterday, leading to more than 150 boating offences being detected, including not having life jackets on board.

Police also conducted more than 1010 random breath tests on skippers, but none were found to be over the limit.

NSW Police Marine Area Commander, Superintendent Mark Hutchings, said the same drink-driving laws applied on the water as they did on the road.

"The legal limit on the water is 0.05, just like on the land, but it is certainly safer to not drink at all," he said.

Supt Hutchings said over the past two years, six people had died as a result of incidents in which alcohol had been a contributing factor.

He said police and other agencies were expecting the busiest boating season yet.

RMS senior boating safety officer Rex Cresswell said 90 per cent of people who had died in boating accidents in the state over the past decade were not wearing life jackets.

"If you have a vessel travelling at around 30 knots, a child goes over the side at that sort of speed, you have to stop the vessel and turn it around and go back to them. In that time you can lose them."

Fisheries compliance director Glenn Tritton said $200 on-the-spot fines applied for fishing without a licence unless exempt, and a $75 fine applied if fishos did not have their licences with them.