TUGBOAT OPERATORS and fishermen in Gizo, and whole throughout Western Province have been warned over the new beacons that were recently erected on coastal reefs in Western Province.
Western Province Senior Maritime Officer, Wheatley Douglas said beacons that were recently replaced were destroyed by barges towed by tugboats through lagoons as well as fishermen who use these beacons as anchorage to secure their boats and canoes while fishing.
“From now on, tugboats are not allowed to pull their barges into these lagoons, especially here in Gizo.
“Every beacon here in Gizo were knocked down by theses barges from tugboats when making a turn, this is just a narrow channel here.
“This is because when a tugboat makes a turn in front, the barge cuts into the direction of the turn and knocked down these beacons,” Mr Douglas stressed.
He said all passenger boats and other ships can come through these channels because they can manoeuvre their movement according to their length.
Mr Douglas reiterates that nearly all beacons in Western Province were knocked down by these barges hauled by tugboats.
He has also warned fishermen to stop using beacons to secure their canoes or boats while out fishing in the reefs.
“And also to fishermen, some fishermen use these beacons as pole to tie their canoes while fishing, without realising that when they do this, added by the force of the current, they gradually knock off these beacons,” said Douglas.
Mr Douglas told Island Sun in an interview yesterday that the Solomon Islands Maritime Safety Administration (SIMSA) has completed installing beacons and light buoys in Western Province and now are in Choiseul Province on the same project.
SIMSA carried out the Nav Aid and Beaconing Project under the Ministry of Infrastructure Development (MID).
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