Another holiday in paradisiacal Mauritius that ends in tragedy for one of our much cherished tourists. This time through an ?accident? while enjoying the pleasure of the sea.

The Pleasure Craft Industry is a risky business (both in financial terms as in the safe boating terms) and remains one of the cornerstones of the Mauritian tourism industry.

The frequency of accidents is getting too high so as not to raise the alarm and get to the root of the problems that are slowly killing that industry. It?s about time that ALL the stakeholders in that industry realize that it is ESSENTIAL to get their acts together to stop that trend. The common practice of ?knee-jerk? reaction together with a shift the blame culture must be stopped. Replaced by safety culture that still allows the operators to make a quid and earn a living, with the authorities providing with proper and competent monitoring and policing of the regulations put in place. The word ?security? must be the pinnacle of these legislations. There must be a change of mindset and fix the problems once and for all. For the good of all of the industry, all its stakeholders and the country in general.

An ?accident? is not the result of a single mishap. It is the result of a chain of events whereby defences (which are supposed to be in place) have been removed, weakening the protection and resulting in an ?undesired? situation. In the Swiss cheese concept as it is known, the human element in these technical and skilled workplaces is a very important factor that cannot be ignored at the level of operation.

So, many issues should be raised following this tragic accident that will see the image of Mauritius tarnished in the international media. Surveying of the crafts and its gear, provisional licensing, proper buoyage system, policing of the legislation in place, professional training, (I wonder how many of these skippers have a formal and professional training to that kind of standard) legislating all the aspects of the ?sport? etc. There seem to be much shortcomings is an activity whereby people?s lives are at risk. Solutions to these shortcomings do exist. It?s just a matter of willing to find them.

It is by consultation with all stakeholders and taking bold decisions that this industry will become safer for the public in general. Anything less will continue to add nails to its coffin.

Let?s not wait for the next accident to get the ball rolling and apply the solutions. Let Mr P. Darène?s death serve as a catalyst to improve and make the nautical activities, for which he came to Mauritius, safer. We owe him at the very least this exercise.

<B>By Captain Jean-Marie Sauzier</B>