The busy 2023 shipping season is underway and Windsor Port Authority is reminding fishing boats to move out of the way of commercial ships along the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers.
Port Windsor has received numerous calls already from captains who are reporting boaters for refusing to move out of the way, especially near Fighting Island and Peche Island.
Harbour Master and Director of Operations Peter Berry says it's a very dangerous situation.
"An average laker 650 feet long could take up to 1km long to stop and then they don't have that navigation because they have to those fishing boats that in the way and then they can't steer," says Berry. "They need to be moving to be able to steer themselves."
He says there are serious consequences but they would rather use education instead.
"The ticket if they refuse to get out of the way of a vessel starts around $500 and can go up to $5000 including being sent home, taken off the river, also the seizure of the equipment if it's used for the offence," he says.
Berry compares the ships and fishing boats to as if a snowplow hit you while you were riding a bicycle.
"The weight that the ship gives off has a lot of power and it has a rotating current to it to pull a vessel under," says Berry. "In many cases if a boat is pulled then go through the props of the vessel and there's no recovery. Just being pulled into that wake is going to be fatal."
He adds if the offence occurs in U.S. waters, it is considered a felony with possible prison time and large fines.