Boat mishaps: NEMA blames ageing wood, overloading

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has identified ageing wooden boats, overloading and submerged trees as major factors responsible for frequent boat accidents and capsizing incidents on Nigerian waterways.

There have been growing concerns over the frequent occurrence of boat mishaps across Nigerian waterways.

The Director of Disaster Risk Reduction at NEMA, Dr Ishaya Isah Chonoko, disclosed this on Friday in an interview with DCL, explaining that many locally used wooden boats remain in operation for extended periods despite prolonged exposure to water and sunlight.

According to him, prolonged exposure to the elements causes wooden boats to deteriorate and eventually become weak, increasing the risk of breaking apart and capsizing while on the water.

“In most cases, the local boats we use are made or constructed with wood and stay for a very long time plying the waterways. Wood exposed to water and sun eventually gets rotten,” Chonoko said.

He explained that NEMA’s rescue assessments at various boat accident scenes had shown that some incidents occurred after old boats broke apart while carrying passengers on the waterways.

“Most of the rescue assessments we have carried out in the past were as a result of using boats that are aged. In most cases, while on the water, the boat breaks and capsizes,” he said.

Chonoko also identified overloading as another major cause of boat accidents, saying some boat operators overload their vessels with passengers and goods in an attempt to maximise revenue.

“Sometimes these boats, despite their age, the users or boat owners always want to maximise what they get in terms of revenue. So they overload the boat with both goods and passengers,” he said.

He warned that excessive loading can make boats unstable and increase the risk of capsizing.

The NEMA director further pointed to trees and other obstructions in waterways as another hazard boat operators face. He said some waterways had trees that became submerged when water levels rose, making them difficult for boat operators to identify.

“In some places, we have trees that the water has encroached on and are in the waterways. Sometimes these boat drivers do not see them. When they hit those trees, the boats can break and capsize,” Chonoko explained.

He said these factors remained among the major causes observed by emergency responders when assessing boat accident scenes, insisting on greater caution and safety measures among boat operators and passengers.