22 killed in waterway mishaps in Jan-Aug

At least 22 people died in water transport accidents in the country till the end of August this year, according to the Finnish Transport Safety Agency-Trafi.

The number of the casualties, however, is lower than that in the corresponding period of the previous year, said a Trafi press release.

From the perspective of water transportation, last summer was safer compared to the previous summers and, based on the preliminary statistics, it is possible that last summer may go into the records as the safest boating year ever.

According to the preliminary statistics, 22 deaths have been recorded from January to August. This number is exceptionally low considering that 40 deaths had been recorded in the corresponding period last year.

“Summer boating was safer. Personally, the summer was uncharacteristically chilly in many parts, however, it is my hope that there has been better use of life jackets than before,” said Trafi head of unit Ville Räisänen, adding that “The weather during autumn boating has been good and hopefully safe boating culture at the beginning of the year continues until the end of the year. At the moment, it seems that this year will become the safest boating year ever.”

According to Räisänen, boaters should continue with the safe boating culture so as to give the country a great gift for the centennial year.

Last year, a total of 48 persons died in water transportation. Of the deaths, eight occurred during autumn.

The majority of accidents, like in the previous years, were made by motorboat riders. The majority of these accidents were on small boats, unlike larger travelling boats, which rarely featured in the accident statistics.

Rowing boat accidents also decreased last summer compared to the previous year.

According to Räsänen, the reduction in rowing boat accidents is very positive since in a number of cases people have gone fishing from their cottages without using life jackets, and unfortunately some cases have been recorded in the water transport accidents.

According to the preliminary statistics, nearly all the deaths recorded in January-August were as a result of boats capsizing or inclining as well as human errors.

Most of the fatal accidents happened in southwest Finland and North Karelia.

When looking at boat number comparisons, most accidents happened in North Karelia and Kanta-Häme. Inland waterways saw 16 deaths while six people died in the sea.