Last weekend, with the start of the 2024 bathing season, the control and surveillance activity that will involve the personnel of the Port Authority of Mazara del Vallo, both at sea and on land, was launched until September, as part of the national operation called “Sea and Safe Lakes 2024”. These controls are aimed at ensuring the safety of bathers and boaters as well as combating behaviors that violate the Bathing Safety Ordinance, the Recreational Boating Code and all the regulations regarding the protection of public property and the marine and coastal environment, so that bathing and recreational activities can be carried out in complete safety.
On Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 June, following targeted checks, fines were already issued to some boaters who were sailing in the sea area reserved for bathing with pleasure boats, in violation of the Bathing Safety Ordinance. In addition, a report was issued against a bathing establishment that lacked the essential and indispensable lifeguard service to guarantee the safety of bathers as an indispensable preparation for rapid intervention in case of need.
The aforementioned sanctioning measures were necessary because the administratively relevant behaviors were implemented in contempt of the regulatory provisions of the Mazara del Vallo Maritime Authority, which were already the subject, in view of the approaching summer season, of a series of meetings held in the month of May, which saw the participation of the concessionaires of the bathing establishments located on the coast of jurisdiction and of the associations of boaters in the area.
The meetings aimed to raise awareness among sea users to respect the bathing ordinance. As regards bathing establishments, an overview was provided of the first aid equipment they must be provided with as well as indications on the correct organization of the rescue service, in order to make bathing safer for the Mazara community. Furthermore, the importance of committing to a correct use of the maritime state property was underlined, avoiding phenomena of illegal building on it, respecting the sea, the coast and its resources, preventing any form of pollution.
As for boaters, the aim was to raise awareness of the need to respect the minimum distance from the coast for navigation and stopping, in order to create a peaceful and safe coexistence at sea between swimmers and boats.
Please remember that any emergencies can be promptly communicated, 24 hours a day, by radio (VHF/FM) on Channel 16, as well as by calling the following telephone numbers: 1530 (Toll-Free Number), 112 (Single Emergency Number), 0923-946388 (number of the Port Authority of Mazara del Vallo).
Mazara del Vallo, 01.07.2024
