Water police have detected an average of 65 offences a day in a summer operation targeting unsafe behaviour on Melbourne’s coastline.
Focussing on high traffic areas within Port Phillip Bay including St Kilda, Port Melbourne, Carrum, Safety Beach and Rye, Operation Jetwash saw Water Police officers deploy on-board boats and Personal Water Craft (PWC) in unison for six separate day-long targeted patrols over the summer school holiday period.
Across the six days of the operation police issued a total of 390 infringement notices.
With Operation Jetwash’s primary focus on jet-ski use and behaviour, PWC offences topped the infringement list with 221 notices issued.
Speeding was the most common offending police detected among jet-ski riders with 53 infringements issued for operating a vessel at a speed exceeding the limit.
Jet-skis were also commonly detected speeding near other water users with 39 PWC infringements issued for exceeding five knots within 50 metres of another vessel.
Thirteen riders were caught operating a PWC without carrying their marine licence documentation while a further eight were found to have no marine licence at all.
Of the 159 boating offences detected by water police during the operation, 16 were for speeding and 13 were for operating above five knots within 50 metres of another vessel.
Over 80 infringements were issued to boaters for a range of safety-related offences involving both life jacket use and maintenance and possession of necessary safety equipment such as fire extinguishers, torches and flares.
Seven kayak users were also issued infringement notices for life jacket related offences while four swimmers were penalised during the operation, including two for swimming within 50 metres of a launching ramp in use at Frankston.
Beaches at Sorrento and Mount Martha recorded the highest amount of offences with 31 detected in each suburb. Twenty-six offences were detected in Port Melbourne along with 25 at Rye, 24 at Martha Cove and 22 at Frankston.
“Water Police conducted approximately 700 vessel inspections during Operation Jetwash and it’s alarming that over half of these have resulted in infringement notices being issued,” Senior Sergeant Alistair Nisbet said.
“What these results show is that all water users need to lift their game when it comes to safety.
“This operation targeted jet-ski use and behaviour and in too many cases riders have failed their safety tests.
“The amount of offences we detected for speeding and operating too close to other vessels is of a real concern to police. Jet-skis are not toys. They’re large, heavy, fast-moving machines and the results of a collision, be it with a swimmer or another vessel, can be catastrophic.
“Jet-ski users need to know the rules of the water and adhere to them or, as this operation shows, police will catch up with you.
“It’s also a concern that life jacket and safety equipment related offences were detected across all watercraft.
“Personal Flotation Devices have been developed in such a way that they rarely impede on activities on the water. Therefore there is no excuse to not be wearing a life jacket when required and to not have all safety equipment on-board and properly maintained.
“This operation may have now ended but Victoria Police’s commitment to water safety has not. Water Police will be out patrolling waterways during the remaining weeks of summer and beyond to make sure everyone is doing the right thing and, most importantly, getting home safe.”
