Maldives' Marine Safety Regulations was amended on Sunday making it mandatory for captains to ensure their passengers wear life jackets in certain situations or if they are travelling by a small vessel.
Small vessels are defined as ones that are nine meters (30.5 ft) long, or smaller.
The amendment states the captains have to ensure their passengers wear life jackets in three situations:
- if they are travelling in a marine vessel nine meters long, or smaller
- if the vessel (any size) is travelling in an area the Maldives Meteorological Service has issued a weather safety alert for
- if passengers are travelling using vessels for marine sports that are smaller than nine meters in length
This amendment further notes that it is the captain's duty to ensure the passengers have life jackets easily accessible if they are using a liveaboard.
The regulation was further amended prohibiting travel and transfer of passengers by small marine vessels during yellow, orange, or red alerts.
An exemption to this amendment includes trips made by vessels that have government approval. It is likely this exemption was provided to for police and Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).
The amendments also outline fines that will be issued to marine vessels that violates the regulation. The first violation will result in a fine of MVR 15,000 in addition to the captain's operating license being suspended for three months. Repeat offenders will result in a fine along with the license being suspended for an extended duration of up to one year.
The license may be updated to include previous violations as well.
If found guilty of violating the mandatory life jacket rule, the owner of the marine vessel will be subjected to a fine of MVR 20,000 on top of the fines the captain would face,
Lifejackets were made mandatory after a tragic marine accident earlier in October that resulted in the death of a woman, and one of her children to go missing.
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