Plea For PNG People To Heed Weather And Marine Alerts Before Going To Sea

Tuesday, 31 March 2026, 5:14 pm
Article: RNZ

Johnny Blades, Journalist

The governor of Papua New Guinea's West New Britain province is urging people to take heed of weather and marine alerts, following a deadly boat capsizing.

Three people are confirmed to have drowned, eight were rescued, and one person remains missing, after a banana boat capsized in rough seas off New Britain's west coast last Wednesday.

Governor Sasindran Muthuvel said the incident came amid a period of bad conditions in the seas off the west coast.

"It's called Open Bay. It's known for rough seas and high tide and all those things. There was a weather forecast, so people knew, but they did not check, they did not listen to any of the advice about strong winds and heavy seas."

As well as listening to advisories, Muthuvel said people should prioritise safety by not using boats that weren't equipped for long sea journeys.

"Like 12 people going (to sea) in a small banana boat is also a bit overloaded. This is also a frequent contributing factor, especially when they travel between Biala to Kokopo, quite a long distance, the vessel is also like, boat is also not in a good condition."

Boat capsizings are not uncommon in the seas off PNG's mainland and also in its Niugini Islands region, which West New Britain is part of.

Muthuvel said his administration was working with the provincial disaster office to try and ensure a system where boats can be registered and have a GPS device installed.

He said the provincial government was also setting up a new maritime rescue base in Biala, some 180 kilometres away from the provincial capital Kimbe.

"We are setting up a speedboard kind of rescue base within Biala, so that any such serious incidents can be addressed quickly," he told RNZ Pacific.

Muthuvel said while it was good that eight people had been rescued in the capsizing incident, the deaths were "very tragic news for our entire province".

© Scoop Media

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