Jeju Coast Guard Conducts Training on Wearing Work Life Jackets

Jeju Maritime Police Station (Chief So Byung-yong) announced on the 1st that it recently conducted training on the wearing of work life jackets and promotional activities for accident prevention targeting fishing vessel owners in Jeju at the Jeju Fisheries Cooperative auditorium.

This training was held to raise awareness for the prevention of human casualties after consecutive capsizing accidents involving Jeju-registered fishing vessels occurred last month near Marado, Jeju, and off the coast of Tongyeong, resulting in crew members going missing or dying.

According to fishing vessel officials, due to abnormal weather conditions, unpredictable gusts of wind frequently occur, and because of poor fishing performance along with rising prices and labor costs, they are forced to continue fishing operations under difficult circumstances. They are aware that under the “Fishing Vessel Operation Act,” wearing life jackets is mandatory during bad weather, but existing life jackets are not easy to wear due to their inconvenience during work. They also mentioned the need for support projects that reduce the self-payment burden when purchasing improved work life jackets through budget support from local governments and fisheries cooperatives.

The Jeju Maritime Police will collect opinions on the inconveniences experienced by crew members regarding work life jackets, share this information with local governments and fisheries cooperatives, and prepare policies to support the distribution of improved work life jackets. They plan to expand education and promotional activities to prevent further human casualties.

In particular, the improved work life jackets are compact during normal times, allowing freedom of movement, and contain two heating elements that automatically activate within two minutes when submerged in water, maintaining heat for about two hours to help prevent hypothermia.

A Jeju Maritime Police official stated, “Although life jackets, which serve as safety belts at sea, may be somewhat inconvenient during work, wearing heated work life jackets that maintain body temperature until rescue teams arrive after a vessel accident is the best safety measure to increase survival rates. It is also urgent to overcome the safety complacency among fishery workers to prevent human casualties.”

Jeju = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Hwang Jeong-pil baekok@asiae.co.kr

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.