Investigation examines jet ski collision that left man critical and girl seriously injured

Famagusta, Cyprus. Investigations into Saturday’s jet ski collision in the Famagusta district are examining the circumstances under which a 17-year-old operated the vessel before it collided with a towable inflatable carrying five people. A man remains in critical condition and his seven-year-old daughter is seriously injured.

Investigation

Kyriakos Aliouris, an official at the deputy ministry of shipping, told the Cyprus Mail on Monday that the investigation remained at a preliminary stage.

“The vessel is a Category B vessel. Initially, the 18-year-old was driving and afterwards the 17-year-old,” he said.

Aliouris said a 17-year-old holding a learner’s licence must be accompanied by a person over the age of 18 who holds the appropriate licence for a Category B vessel.

Injuries

Five people were on the inflatable: two men aged 48 and 43, and three children aged 13, 11 and seven.

The seven-year-old daughter of the 48-year-old man suffered a skull fracture and was transferred to Makarios hospital in Nicosia, where she was admitted in a serious but stable condition.

Her father was taken to Nicosia general hospital, where he remains in critical condition.

Licensing provisions

Under the Recreational Navigation in the Republic and Other Related Matters Law of 2026, passed earlier this year, a learner’s operator licence can be issued from the age of 17. A full operator licence requires a minimum age of 18, approved training and successful examinations.

The law generally permits learners to operate vessels when accompanied by a person holding the appropriate licence for the vessel and navigation area.

The legislation also includes separate provisions allowing people without an operator’s licence to use certain Category B rental vessels, including personal watercraft, under specified conditions.

Article 27 allows an unlicensed person, subject to conditions set out in regulations, to operate Category B personal watercraft hired from a water sports business for a geographically and time-limited trip, provided the vessel meets prescribed power and speed limits.