People in Papua New Guinea’s East New Britain province are coming to terms with an unfolding maritime tragedy that could be among the country’s worst ever.
As hopes fade for the rescue of any of the 27 people missing at sea after their two boats capsized over the weekend, authorities are pleading with the public to take heed of weather warnings before going to sea.
The group set off in two boats on Saturday from the Duke of York group of islands to Kokopo, the capital of East New Britain province on Saturday.
The Provincial Disaster Committee said the vessels capsized that afternoon during rough seas and bad weather, and a search was immediately initiated, using both air and sea capabilities.
One of the boats was located off the west coast of neighbouring New Ireland province, far off the intended journey’s course.
“That’s when they found the first body, the other day, and then this morning (Wednesday) they found a second body there,” local MP Jelta Wong of Gazelle Open said.
“So we’ve come to realising that we are now going to search for the bodies, just to give closure to the families of East New Britain.”
Up to 17 children involved
Two survivors, who the provincial government says were skippers, are reported to have made it ashore on the mainland at Baii Village, Kombiu, on Saturday night.
Police took the pair to Kokopo Police Station, where they were kept and interviewed as part of the ongoing response.
Despite some disruptions due to ongoing bad weather, the search has continued, with as many as 17 children understood to be among the missing.
“The devastation and realisation that children were involved, it really affects us,” Wong told RNZ Pacific.
PNG recently strengthened its maritime regulations so that basic precautions and safety standards are in place on boats travelling by sea, but Wong said they were not being adequately enforced or adhered to.
“This is what we as a province have to look at, to try and implement them and make sure the new regulations are enforced for the good of the travelling public.
“With the new regulations, GPS will be compulsory, life-jackets will be compulsory, and there’ll be heavy penalties and fines (for non-compliance).”
Weather and maritime warnings
In recent months, local authorities have increased their advisories on weather and maritime conditions, particularly as sustained stronger winds have increased in the developing El Nino weather phase.
PNG’s Disaster and Emergency Office had warned about sea travel in their advisories over the recent bad weather in the region, which Wong said he’d sent to his network to raise awareness.
Wong said people must take heed of them before travelling by sea.
“Sometimes because we are complacent in our thinking and how we travel. Every day our people travel by sea. They kind of ignore the warnings and look at the weather themselves and then they think it’s okay,” Wong said.
“But you don’t realise the weather can change automatically, quickly. That’s how we get these tragedies.”
Meanwhile, three people are missing in a separate boating incident in the same Niugini Islands region.
On Wednesday, Autonomous Bougainville Government said a search is ongoing for a banana boat carrying three people that departed Nissan Island on Saturday but hadn’t arrived yet in Buka as scheduled.
