Minister of Transport Dr. Ewart Brown yesterday announced a seminar for public boaters for safety at sea.

The seminar will be set up by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) for participants in the 2004 Newport to Bermuda Race. Yesterday, vice-commodore Jane Correia invited the boating public to join in to learn more about safety at sea with information and skills to prepare for any water-going emergencies.

The issue of safety at sea was sparked by the loss of fishermen Alan Edness and Micah Battersbee, who drowned when their fishing boat New Nuts sank in January this year.

"We're opening the safety at sea seminar to the general public to come to the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI) and it's for open to the public so that they are also equipped to deal with emergencies on the water," said Ms Correia.

The seminar is accredited by `Cruising World/US Sailing' and will be sponsored by West Marine and will be presented by RBYC on December 7, a press release said.

The seminar will be open to all cruising and racing skippers, crews and their families, recreational boaters, professional power boaters and commercial fishermen.

There will be both on-the-water demonstrations and lectures. On-the-water demonstrations will include "quick stop" and man-overboard recoveries, and flare procedures. Lecture topics will also include life-raft inflation, crew preparation and safety, preventing medical emergencies, hypothermia and personal floatation devices, and helicopter evacuation procedures.

"This is an exciting initiative, which will involve an extensive review of current marine safety procedures via real life training and practical exercises focused on safety at sea," Dr. Brown said yesterday at a press conference.

Dr. Brown also wanted to encourage Bermudians, since this time of year many people are out on the water, to take care and be safe.

The programme will run from 8 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. and tickets are $50 and include the lectures, demonstrations, exhibits, course materials and lunch including a certificate for each participant.