Do not use fishing boats for unlicensed activity, Ministry warns

Muscat: The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology advised fishing boat owners to not to use their boats for any unlicensed activities, such as transporting passengers from Shanna Port to Masirah Island.

In a statement, the ministry said that it had recently noticed that some fishing boat owners used them for activities other than what they are licensed for, specifically to ferry passengers from the port of Shanna to Masirah Island and back.

“As these boats lack the minimum requirements for maritime safety for passenger transport stipulated in Ministerial Resolution No. (34/2020) and Ministerial Resolution No. 33/2022, these boats must abide by the licensed activity, and not engage in any other activities, in order to avoid legal accountability and financial fines stipulated in the laws and regulations issued by this Ministry,” the statement said.

“Whoever has the desire to engage in passenger transport or water taxi activity can obtain a license through the Invest Easy platform,” the statement added.