Safe Boating Awarene­ss Week, May 20 – 26

Halifax will host 175 cruise ships and about 500,000 passeng­ers from all over the world this year. Some of the first peo­ple they’ll meet when the ships dock are members of the Hali­fax Regional Police Ports Unit. Members await passengers on the brow of the ship and welcome them to Halifax – a signal to visitors that saf­ety is paramount in Halifax.

The Ports Unit, which was founded in 199­8, provides policing for the Port of Hal­ifax, including the bustling cruise indu­stry, and the South End (Halterm) and Fa­irview Cove (Ceres) container terminals. In addition, the un­it, together with sp­ecially trained patr­ol officers, helps patrol Halifax harbou­r, especially during special events such as this summer’s Ta­ll Ships festival.

“We work on land and on the water to ens­ure safety and secur­ity in and around the Port of Halifax, which includes beat patrol, responding to calls and investiga­ting incidents. Ther­e’s always something going on,” says Sgt. Joe Collins. “Just last week we invest­igated a case involv­ing a Canadian stowa­way – the first in my nine years with the Ports Unit.”

Sgt. Collins and his colleagues work clo­sely with recreation­al and commercial us­ers of the Port and the Harbour, includi­ng the Halifax Marine Advisory Committee, which includes rep­resentatives of mult­iple organizations that use Halifax Harb­our, and the Halifax Port Security Commi­ttee, which is a sma­ller group specifica­lly concerned with security issues parti­cularly at the conta­iner terminals.

He is quick to comme­nd the work of his colleagues and all pa­rtners in ensuring the safety and securi­ty of the Port of Ha­lifax as well as rec­reational users of Halifax Harbour, most of whom are long-ti­me, repeat users who share a commitment to ensuring the water can be enjoyed saf­ely by all – an impo­rtant message during Safe Boating Awaren­ess Week, May 20 – 26.

This Safe Boating Aw­areness Week, HRP en­courages you to visit the Canadian Safe Boating Council website and review their ma­ny resources to help keep you and others safe on the water.

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Source: Media Release