Check your flares or risk $160 fine

Department of Transport marine operations director Ray Buchholz said expired flares, even in good condition, were not reliable and could fail in an emergency.

The deadline was announced last November after a survey revealed about half of vessels operating in WA’s unprotected waters carried out-of-date flares.

Mr Buchholz said if skippers were operating in waters where flares were a required piece of safety equipment and did not carry an in-date set, they would risk a $160 fine.

He said out-of-date flares could be carried on board as spares or could be disposed of at DoT collection centres.