THE continuous overloading of vessels travelling to Honiara from Auki has yet again sparked concern not only from responsible authorities but also from the general Malaita public.
Over the past few weeks, marine vessels providing weekly shipping services to Auki have continuously been overloaded and evaded being detained by Police.
Police had previously detained two vessels, MV Maetalau and Daystar, however released after they had removed some of their passengers and cargos.
“With the lack of daily shipping services to Auki and Honiara, people have again started overloading vessels way pass its capacities.
“This is of great concern, especially regarding people’s safety as always emphasized by shipping and marine authorities.
“People should respect these rules and not overload vessels, especially when travelling from Auki to Honiara,” a concerned Police Officer who wanted to remain anonymous said.
He added that often at times, it is the shipping crew as well who are selfish in wanting to load more cargos and passengers superseding the vessels capacities.
“It is these selfish attitudes that sometimes causes more problems for themselves (vessels) whenever detained and ordered to pay fines by the authorities,” he said.
The officers’ remarks was also supported by sections of the public who said that vessels are the ones loading the ships and telling passengers to board early in order to avoid being detained by authorities.
“It is true sometimes it is the vessels that even when seeing us loading, the tell us to continue and then depart before the scheduled times,” they said.
By JEREMY INIFIRI
