A man drowned at Shannon Bridge, Co Clare, while operating a jet ski at an “unsafe speed”, an investigation has found.
The Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) found the rider who died in the incident in May 2023 had carried out unsafe manoeuvres in an area unsuitable for such a high-powered machine.
The victim was not named in the report, but was Wassiou Ayawe Moran (19) from Limerick, a soccer player with Limerick FC.
The report found he was proceeding in excess of the local area bylaw speed limit of 5km/h when the machine capsized.
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It led to the man being in cold water, but he was unable to swim and was not wearing a personal flotation device (PFD), the MCIB report said.
The report said the Mr Moran had first taken to the water at around 4pm on May 31st, 2023, on a Sea-Doo personal watercraft, a type of jet ski.
He was accompanied on the jet ski by a passenger who was wearing a borrowed PFD, which she gave back after the initial trip.
At around 4.30pm, he was joined by another passenger. Mr Moran gave his PFD to the second passenger. Soon after, the first passenger rejoined them on the jet ski. This time without a PFD.
At 5pm, the jet ski passed a pontoon at speed and made a sharp left turn which caused all three passengers to fall off the jet ski as it capsized.
The two passengers, one who was wearing a PFD, were able to swim. They recovered from the fall and swam ashore to the Ballina Pontoon.
Mr Moran, who could not swim and was not wearing a PFD, was not visible from the shore and was feared to have gone under the water.
The alarm was raised by a member of the public and a search started.
Mr Moran was recovered from the water at around 6.45pm and transferred to Killaloe Coast Guard station where he was pronounced dead by an advanced paramedic.
A postmortem report said drowning was the cause of death.
At an inquest held on July 15th last year, death was determined to be due to misadventure.
In its report, the MCIB made safety recommendations to Waterways Ireland, local authorities in Clare and Tipperary, An Garda Síochána, Water Safety Ireland and the Minister for Transport.
These recommendations, including registration of jet skis and improving communication of bylaws and enforcement, were made in attempt to avoid similar casualties in future.
