HAVEN JETSKIERS “RISKING THEIR LIVES”

Jetskiers and sailors of small boats on Milford Haven have been warned that they are risking their lives by ignoring an exclusion zone set up around the site of construction works in the estuary for one of the LNG terminals.

Milford Haven Port Authority says it is “very concerned” that the 100m safety zone, set up to mark off the area around the South Hook jetty while it is being part demolished and part refurbished, is being breached.

And the Authority has released a photograph showing a jetskier encroaching dangerously into the zone, and appealed for anyone who knows the individual to come forward.

“This man has been photographed entering an area which is clearly marked out, and we would like to speak to him about the danger he was putting himself in,” said deputy harbourmaster Bill Hirst.

“The area contains numerous moorings, mooring buoys, barges and obstructions. The tops of some of the cropped piles are submerged at high water, and there are also newly-placed steel braces between some of the piles on the jetty leg, put there to brace them as sections of the roadway are removed and replaced, which are also below high water level.

“We are very concerned that if the zone is not observed, someone will get seriously injured or killed. It is almost impossible to warn jetskiers once they are on the water, as they are difficult to intercept because of their speed and manoeuvrability.

Mr Hirst said the Port Authority had informed as many users of the waterway as possible about the exclusion zone and why it was there through its normal channels, including its Notices to Mariners published on its website, www.mhpa.co.uk.

“The terminal developers employ safety boats on the jetty at all times, and our patrol craft are around and about as well as our Water Ranger, so we are doing what we can,” he said. “But these jetskis particularly are a problem.

“Obviously they have not picked up on the warning yet, but we hope people will now take this message on board, for their own safety.”