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From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
On Saturday, June 18, tragedy struck at Ayama Ijaw, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, when a passenger boat conveying 15 passengers capsized. The boat was travelling to Ayama Ijaw from Otuan, also in Southern Ijaw, and had even got to its destination when the accident occurred. While it was trying to berth at Ayama Ijaw, the heavy rain affected the visibility of the driver. He was said to have mistakenly hit a blockade, which immediately capsized the boat. 
Eight of the passengers on board wore life jackets and they were rescued, while seven other passengers without life jackets drowned. Among the victims was a pregnant woman, a 70-year-old man, a female corps member and two toddlers.
The boat driver, Lucky Christopher, was invited by the Marine Police and questioned about why he sailed the boat in a rainstorm and with eight passengers not wearing life jackets. After questioning, he was let off the hook, while the grieving families have been left to bury the dead.
Four days after the tragedy at Ayama Ijaw, on June 22, disaster struck again. A passenger boat conveying 12 from Korososei in Southern Ijaw to Ayama Ijaw was involved in an accident. The boat, because of poor visibility, hit a canoe, causing it to capsized. Four passengers were rescued while eight others not wearing life jackets drowned.
The two heart-breaking accidents brought to the fore the threats on the waterways. Passengers travelling be boat would have to make supplication to God to grant them safe journey to their destination. Those travelling on waterways contend with threats of sea-pirates attack and fear of boat mishap.
Sailing boats during rainstorm is one of the causes of several boat mishaps on the waterways. Findings indicated that, for the first accident, it was the tarpaulin that was used to cover the passengers that reduced visibility and caused the boat mishap.
Mr. Joseph Sherack, chairman of Maritime Union in Otuan community, heaped the blame of accidents on waterways on drivers that insist on travelling even in rainstorms. According to him, the accident at Ayama Ijaw could have been avoided, if the driver had refused to load the boat when there was rain.
He said: “If I was around, I would not have allowed the boat to load when there is a rainstorm. I was chairman of the union but some persons who claimed to know more than me allowed that boat to load. If I was around that boat would not have gone because of bad weather and poor visibility. Those claiming to be acting allowed that trip.”
Speaking on accidents on the waterways, the state maritime chairman, Mr. Ogoniba Ipigansi, stated that bad weather and poor visibility cause accidents. He disclosed that the accident of June 22 was caused by poor visibility.
According to him, it was raining heavily and the tarpaulin that was used to cover the passengers was not held strongly by them. The wind was said to have blown it and it inadvertently covered the face of the driver and caused him to hit the local boat.
Ipigansi said experienced drivers know that they are not supposed to sail boats during heavy rain or when the weather is not suitable for such trips.
“On the issue of bad weather, we have a certificate PDSC (Power Driving Small Craft) and this certificate requires training, which is, if the weather is bad, if it is stormy or raining, you park and allow the weather to clear before you move.
“It also means there is no night sailing. If you want to sail in the night in case of emergency to rush someone to the hospital, there should be a search light to use or big torchlight. But some of these drivers use phone torchlight or no light at all. This is the cause of the problem,” he said.
Ipigansi, however, noted that, even if accidents happen, which sometimes are unavoidable, passengers would be saved, if they wear life jackets. He said there are rules guiding the maritime environment but are usually breached by drivers, especially those from the rural areas.
His words: “Boat accidents normally happen but the loss of lives is what is of concern. We find out that the drivers do not give passengers life jackets. So, if a boat mishap happens, and there are people without life jackets, they are likely to drown. We have a law that, if you don’t have life jacket, your boat should not be loaded.
“Usually, boats loading from the urban areas comply with this because our task force is on the waterways, but those from the rural areas, due to absence of the task force, jettison the rule, which has caused a spike in boat accidents.”
He disclosed that the union would clamp down on recalcitrant drivers over the non-use of life jackets for passengers.
“We are now changing the rules that on no account would you be allowed to drive a boat if you don’t have life jackets for passengers. The maritime task force has been directed to arrest erring drivers.
“We don’t allow a boat that does not have life jackets to load. These recent accidents happened in the rural areas where our task force teams are not active. We have told them that, henceforth, all boats coming from the rural areas without life jacket should be arrested,” he said.
Also speaking on boat mishaps, a boat driver, Eseimokumoh Henry, attributed the tragedies to mental state of drivers and unruly passengers who refuse to follow instructions from the drivers.
“Boat accident is mostly caused by fear. Because of attacks by sea-pirates most boat drivers now drive with fear. This fear causes accidents. Some passengers are very stubborn, they don’t want to wear life jackets, and some don’t want to follow instructions on where to sit to make the boat balanced. All these cause accidents. We want the state and federal governments to increase security so that drivers can have peace of mind when on the waterways.”
In a similar vein, Frank Daniels, a boat driver, blamed some drivers for recklessness, leading to accidents resulting in loss of lives. According to him, boat drivers need to be cautioned against drinking when about to sail a boat.
He said: “The accident oftentimes is caused by drivers. Some of them would have been drunk under the guise of fighting cold weather before driving. As a driver, you are not supposed to drink because it would affect your temperature and make it high and before you know you won’t know what you are driving again and cause accident. In most cases, no boat would even hit another but because of drunkenness the boat driver would drive recklessly and the boat would tumble. Boat drivers should be cautioned. Boat drivers should drive safely when carrying human beings.”
Samuel Nimbofa, another boat driver, said accidents also occur due to unforeseen circumstances, especially floating items like slippers and thick water hyacinth.
“It is sometimes dangerous to drive boats on the waterways because of some objects like floaters. If these objects, especially the thick water hyacinth, clog the boat propeller, it is only God that can prevent that boat from capsizing. But it is good for passengers to wear life jackets to give them hope of survival,” he said.
Police public relations officer in the state, Asinim Butswat, said the only way to prevent loss of lives during a boat mishap is for passengers to wear life jackets. He was of the view that the maritime union would need to be proactive in the enforcement of the use of life jackets to prevent loss of lives during boat mishaps.
