'Safety at Sea' exhibition

As part of this year's Safety at Sea campaign, the Malta Maritime Authority, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, is mounting an exhibition of 125 children's paintings at the Bay Street Tourist Complex.

The paintings are a selection of 1,200 submissions made in a school painting competition launched last year by the MMA with the theme Safety at Sea. The competition was aimed at raising awareness among school children and their parents on the various safety precautions one should take when at sea or spending a day at the beach.

The first four placed pupils of the competition were Dean Sciberras from Achille Ferris School, Msida; Clifton Farrugia from the Zabbar Primary School; Karl Anthony Schembri from Zurrieq and Kristina Tabone from St Monica School. The pupils ranked as the first 15 were each awarded gift vouchers varying between Lm50 and Lm5.

Charles Axisa, the MMA's marketing and communications manager, said the painting competition was one of the many initiatives being undertaken by the authority to raise and promote an awareness about enjoying the sea in a safe way.

This year, 18 swimmers zones have been designated and mechanically propelled seacraft or sailing boats, including wind surfers, surf boards, jet skis and aqua-scooters, are banned from navigating in these zones during the summer season.