THE Solomon Islands Maritime Safety Authority will launch an investigation into a trip taken by MV Tafusibata on Tuesday night which breached marine regulations.

The investigation will probe; taking an unsafe ship to sea, taking an unlimited number of passengers and failure to consult marine for the safety purposes of the boat.

Officer in charge of Operation Safe Boat – 2016 from the office of SIMSA, Mr Derek Saru told this paper yesterday that the investigation follows the boat’s near-disaster encounter after it reportedly eluded authority check and escaped into the darkness for Kiu port in Are’are.

He said that since the incident, his office is collecting information as they will make further queries into the issue.

Mr Saru said that they are waiting to talk with the ship master and ship owner regarding the matter.

Investigation will be looking into areas that have resulted in the mechanical problem encountered by the vessel and other related mechanical problems faced by the vessel during that incident.

Mr Saru said investigations will also look into why the ship master and owner sanctioned the unsafe ship to take to sea and to look into whether the ship took maximum passengers onboard the vessel during the trip.

He added that another serious issue to investigate is the action taken by the ship master and ship owner to escape marine authorities.

“For now, what we are waiting for is the arrival of the boat from West Are’are, and we’ll begin the investigation as long as the boat and its ship master arrive in Honiara,” he said.

On the same note, Mr Saru also warned every ship master and ship owner to abide by all marine regulations as they will continue to monitor every ship going in and out of Honiara during this Christmas festive.

Mr Saru said that all marine regulations are there and all ships to honour them, so no vessel to experience the same thing happen to MV Tafusibata, but make it enjoyable trips to all passengers during this festive session.