Improved safety at sea

Alicante has asked the regional government to provide the port of Alicante with a new 20-metre sea rescue boat, saying that the current situation does not provide adequate provision of marine rescue.

There are only two boats for maritime rescue provided by the Ministry of Development, one in Javea and the other in Alicante, said to be inadequate to cover a large area of coastline from San Pedro to Pinatar in Murcia. The coastline is a hotspot for marine traffic, from pleasure and fishing boats and merchant marine activities to other water-based tourist activities.

The argument is that the current provisions are insufficient to adequately protect such an extensive and busy stretch of coastline. By contract in other Mediterranean ports including Malaga, Motril, Almeria, Cartagena and Valencia the state administration has allocated superior performance boats, 20 metres long and with 1,100hp engines, resulting in a faster response time.