Madang is one of the 15 Maritime Provinces in Papua New Guinea that has most of its population travel by sea daily.
In their daily movement, they encounter incidents at sea which are caused by natural disaster and sea piracy, as a result they lose goods and properties worth millions of kina. Many lives are lost and some incidents go unreported.
Madang Governor Ramsey Pariwa revealed that the province has the highest statistics of mishap at sea.
“Last year we recorded 15 incidents of sea piracy; boat capsize and boat lost at sea. And this year, just in the middle of the year and we already reached 15 incidents. Madang has been hitting the chat for sea mishap in the country,” Governor Pariwa said.
Governor Pariwa revealed that, these incidents are due to the lack of safety at sea.
With the swearing in of the five new small craft board members recently, they will work alongside National Maritime Safety Authority to address the alarming statistics in the province.
National Maritime Safety Authority also opened its new Madang office to help them perform their mandated responsibilities in ensuring safety of the people that travel by sea is guaranteed.
People are also advised to follow warnings provided by NMSA or National Weather Service to avoid incidents.
