Transport Ministry launches their new nautical safety campaign in Mahón

The General Director of the Merchant Navy, Ana Núñez, presented yesterday, July 1, in Mahón the summer campaign on recreational boating safety, promoted by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility. The campaign aims to dispel myths surrounding navigation that are causing avoidable accidents among recreational boaters and participants in other maritime leisure activities.

Transport chose Mahón to host the launch due to the high number of recreational boating incidents that occur in the Balearic Islands during the summer months, although they also happen throughout the year. In fact, the Salvamento (Rescue) Center in Palma ranks second nationwide in summer recreational boating emergencies, just behind Barcelona, as shown in the table included at the end of the official press release.

The nationwide campaign, titled "Turn a deaf ear to the sirens’ song and listen to the law of the sea," is driven by the Directorate-General of the Merchant Navy and Maritime Rescue.

This year’s campaign video, inspired by the alluring song of the sirens, highlights risky habits that recreational sailors often adopt without realizing the dangers. These include alcohol consumption, lack of maintenance on safety gear such as life jackets, failure to supervise children on deck, and not carrying enough fuel for the entire journey.

Ultimately, the goal is to prevent emergencies and ensure that days spent at sea on a boat or jet ski during the summer are enjoyable and safe, while raising awareness about following safety rules. “Many of these emergencies could be avoided with proper maintenance and safety checks before setting off. And we won’t stop repeating this, because even now we still see emergencies with potentially fatal outcomes caused by something as preventable as running out of fuel at sea,” stated the Director General during the video presentation.

“It’s true that, year after year, the numbers are decreasing, albeit slightly, but we must remain vigilant and continue our efforts with educational campaigns like this. We need to be aware that we are ultimately responsible for our own safety, and that depends on obeying the established rules before and during any voyage and avoiding misinformation spread by word of mouth or on social media,” she added.

The campaign is being shared via the social media accounts of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (@transportesgob) and Maritime Rescue (@salvamentogob).

The Ministry and Maritime Rescue websites also support this campaign with downloadable resources, including a Guide to Recreational Boating Recommendations, an informational brochure, and an infographic listing must-have safety items for sailing, all available in both Spanish and English.

In addition, the heads of Maritime Captaincies and Maritime Rescue Centers along the Spanish coast are conducting outreach efforts to raise awareness about compliance with safety regulations.

Nationwide, nearly half of the emergencies that occur at sea during the summer season (from June 15 to September 15) involve recreational vessels and other leisure marine activities. Last summer, Maritime Captaincies and Maritime Rescue Centers responded to 1,466 such emergencies, involving more than 3,600 people. In the Balearic Islands, 237 incidents were recorded during the summer, and 420 over the course of 2024 as a whole. This means that 56% of recreational boating emergencies occurred in just those two months. The most common cause is drifting due to mechanical failure. Other incidents include groundings, fires, missing persons, sinkings, and flooding.

During the seasonal campaign for inspecting recreational boats and jet skis led by the Maritime Police Division of the Guardia Civil, 319 inspections of recreational vessels were carried out in the Balearics, with 94 resulting in proposed sanctions. Regarding jet skis, 136 inspections were conducted in 2024, with 79 proposed sanctions and 1 immobilization. Most violations were due to lack of insurance or proper operator certification.

On a national scale, 84% of the serious violation cases processed in 2024 by Maritime Captaincies of the Directorate-General of the Merchant Navy involved users of recreational boats (62%) and jet skis (22%). The total fines amount to nearly 3 million euros.