In October the Auckland region Navigation and Safety By-laws will change in relation to the wearing of Life Jackets.
The legal requirement from Labour weekend will be that all people on vessels under 6 metres will have to wear a life jacket, unless the skipper deems it safe to remove them.
What this means is, that responsibility for the safety of the crew and passengers is clearly placed on the skipper. This responsibility is also clearly identified under the Maritime Transport Act.
The effect of this change is that the skipper will be absolutely accountable for decisions made where they deem it safe for their crew/passengers to not wear life jackets.
If skippers make this conscious decision and something goes wrong, police will look very closely at holding the skipper personally accountable by investigating and laying criminal charges where appropriate.
Police and our partners in general maritime safety, want all skippers to be fully aware of their responsibility and accountability, and we will be proactively enforcing this message throughout the summer and beyond.
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Katherine Manaton / Relieving Communications Manager, Waitemata District
021 192 1243