Official complaint against jet skis

Recreational boat companies, offering excursions and whale watching, based in the Benalmádena marina have filed a formal complaint with the maritime service of the Civil Guard about a situation they consider a ‘very serious’ safety problem.

Lodged via the Benalmadena Association of Merchants and Entrepreneurs (ACEB), they are hoping to find a solution through this formal complaint. According to the text of the accusation, both large boats and small jet skis, piloted by inexperienced tourists, enter and leave through the same harbour mouth where boat owners complain that the jet skis do not respect safe minimum distances, crossing dangerously  in front of much more powerful and slow to stop boats.

Jet skis pose a ‘very serious danger’

‘It is a very serious danger,’ according to the president of the ACEB, making reference to a recent viral video of a car-shaped boat colliding with a much larger whale-watching boat in which the captain of the whale-watcher suffered a serious blow to the head.

The formal complaint came on the same day the skipper of a tourist excursion boat was arrested in connection to the death of a jet ski pilot at the same harbour after both collided.

Whales and dolphins frightened off by jet skis and speed boats

Dolphin and whale watching tour companies also spoke out saying that it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to spot the cetaceans due to the proliferation of small boats, and jet skis, the riders of which seem unaware of the regulations for the protection of these animals and which, among other issues, limit the distance of approach, the noise that can be made by the speedboat. Failure to comply with these minimum measures causes whales and dolphins to be frightened off.