A long serving ship captain and former Solomon Islands College of High Education marine Lecture Elijah Mouku says 90 percent of passenger vessels serving people need full inspection assessments.
Mr Mouku said it is clear inspection of passenger and cargo boats has never been consistent.
“A good number of boats servicing our waters were never been inspected for so long. This is an important exercise to ensure safety of lives and cargoes,” he said.
He said ‘obviously’ many ships berthing at the Point Cruz Ports area and Ranadi are without proper safety equipments, never been maintained and hardly safe.
“If you go down to point Cruz Warf or Ranadi industrial area you see many ships fail the sea safety standards.
“This is something that needs to be looked into seriously. The responsible authority must be consistent and strict in this area to avoid avoidable disasters.”
By SOLOMON LOFANA