The Gibraltar Port Authority (GPA) is reminding the public and especially recreational pleasure craft users that there is a speed limit of 5 knots for all vessels in the inner harbour. Any vessel which exceeds this may be liable to prosecution. More generally, and with the opening of the official bathing season today, particular care should also be taken by speed boat and jet-ski users when navigating in the vicinity of other vessels or swimmers in the busy waters off the Gibraltar coastline.

Pleasure craft users should also be aware that there is a minimum safety zone that all boats, jet skis and yachts must observe and such zones are highlighted in legislation as follows:

Public Health Act : Seaside Pleasure Boat Rules 1989

“regulated area” means the seashore of the whole coast of Gibraltar, and–
(a) from the beginning of the month of June until the end of the month of September, the sea adjacent to the seashore to a distance seawards of one hundred and fifty metres from mean low water springs; or
(b) from the beginning of the month of October until the end of the month of May, the sea adjacent to the seashore to a distance seawards of one hundred metres from mean low water springs;”

The ‘Safety at Sea’ booklet, produced by the GPA in conjunction with the Royal Gibraltar Police and the Gibraltar Maritime Administration, is available online at http://www.gibraltarport.com/safetyatsea