Vessel owner admits TMA storm warning was ignored

“You may find that the weather is not rough only at a certain time...but it stabilises after a while. And the good thing is that Tanzania has no strong tides as compared to neighbouring countries”Azam marine managing director hussein said.PHOTO|FILE 

By Fariji Msonsa ,Citizen Reporter

In Summary

According to Sumatra’s director of Maritime Safety and Security, Capt King Chiragi, most of the owners of marine vessels are not knowledgeable on weather forecasts and sea conditions.

Dar es Salaam. A day after the state forecaster said it duly gave a warning to seafarers ahead of two marine accidents last weekend, the owner of one of the ill-fated vessels has admitted having ignored the alert.

The Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA) told The Citizen on Monday that it cautioned sea users over high waves and tides, information which is normally given for 24 hours through media and at least twice a day through TMA officers at ports.

But yesterday, Azam Marine, the owner of Kilimanjaro II which was hit by waves off Zanzibar’s Nungwi Bay and killed at least five and left 18 others missing, said such warnings are unreliable due to regular weather changes.

The firm’s managing director, Mr Hussein Said, told The Citizen that regular alerts from TMA were not reliable since they were too general and covered over 24 hours while conditions at sea kept changing at least every three hours.

“We get information and alerts from TMA, but since they are for 24 hours...we do not rely much on them,” said Mr Said.

Adding that, “you may find that the weather is not rough only at a certain time...but it stabilises after a while. And the good thing is that Tanzania has no strong tides as compared to neighbouring countries.” However, the fate of marine passengers in the country seems to remain in the hands of captains who receive intensive safety training, according to the Surface and marine Transport Regulatory Authority (Sumatra).

According to Sumatra’s director of Maritime Safety and Security, Capt King Chiragi, most of the owners of marine vessels are not knowledgeable on weather forecasts and sea conditions.

He said it was the captains who have familiarity with meteorological conditions as they are taught thoroughly on the subject. Therefore, it is upon them to decide whether to act on the alerts given by TMA or proceed with their journeys, he added.

“The users of the information given by TMA are the captains, not the owners. Captains have education on meteorology, so they are the ones to choose whether to travel with caution or postpone until the situation stabilises,” said Capt Chiragi.

He noted that sometimes Sumatra did stop some small vessels manned by untrained sailors when conditions were not favourable, but not modern passenger boats such as Kilimanjaro II which are steered by trained captains.

On the other hand, Capt Chiragi noted that it was true that the Tanzanian sea was a bit calmer compared to other countries bordered by the ocean in terms of storms. But the power of the vessels used for marine transport to endure sea roughness was key to safety, he said