by Azmat Haroon
Doha: Qatar will soon begin issuing licences for driving all types of boats, including motor boats. A planned law would make boat driving licences mandatory.
The new law will consolidate powers of the Ministry of Interior’s Coasts and Border Security Department, allowing it to issue boat driver’s licences to people of all nationalities.
The department has been working on the law for two years, and once enforced, the registration of all kinds of vessels as well as sea safety measures will be issued by the Border Security Department.
“All boats whether big or small, or speedboats will have to be registered with the Coast Guard,” Brigadier Ali Ahmed Al Bedeed, Director of Coasts and Borders Security Department, said at a press briefing yesterday.
The new law will include specifications according to which the department will also check the condition of the boats.
“The new law will be quite similar to the road traffic law. Nobody will be able to drive a boat without licence. There is also going to be yearly investigation by the Coast Guard Department and we will check if there are cracks in a boat or if there is a fault in the engine,” Al Bedeed said.
He said that sometimes people change the colour of a boat without notifying the department which makes it difficult to identify them during rescue operations.
“We are waiting for the law to be enforced, after which the coast guard will be able to control the speedboats as well.”
Currently, people are only required to register their vessels and they drive them without any licence. “We issue licences for fishing to Qataris but there is no provision for boat driving. It’s not going to be difficult to get this licence but we just want people to understand basic navigation as part of their safety,” he said, adding that the new law will also include a boat driving test.
The department is also building two advanced firefighting boats.
Many people drown in Qatari waters during the summer. “Every month we lose at least two lives because people drown in the coastal areas. Many of them are labourers,” Al Bedeed said.
The Peninsula
