October 3, 2013 – A newly-formed “harbor safety committee” is working to address what it says is “a rapid increase in the number of close calls” on the Chicago River between tour boats, barges, and other commercial vessels – and rented boats such as kayaks and electric boats.

The Chicago Harbor Safety Committee held an emergency meeting on August 12 to discuss the issue, less than a month after being formed, according to a news release on Wednesday.

It was the small electric boats being rented to the public by Chicago Electric Boat Company at Marina City that helped inspire the safety committee. Michael Borgstrom, president of Wendella Sightseeing Company and the committee’s vice president, said in May that he first learned of the electric boats in a 2012 meeting with city, state, and federal regulators and “no one in that room knew about it.”

There have been close calls between Wendella boats and kayakers and Borgstrom says they often help people get back into their kayaks.

This “high risk environment,” says Susan Urbas, president of the committee, is caused by “a lack of adequate education and training for boat renters, excessive alcohol consumption, and the absence of a scheme for traffic separation and hazard warnings.”

New warning signs proposed by the safety committee will try to keep professionals and amateurs separated on the river. Details of the signs, which the committee itself will pay for, are still being worked out but should be up when next year’s boating season starts.

(Left) Traffic and warning signs proposed by the Chicago Harbor Safety Committee. (Photo obtained from CHSC.)

The safety committee has the blessing of the U.S. Coast Guard, which hosted its first meeting, held at Navy Pier on July 15 after a year of planning. The committee will be concerned with safety on the main, north, and south branches of the Chicago River, as well as an area of Lake Michigan close to Chicago.

Members of the safety committee include Dave Olson, owner of Kayak Chicago, and Ron Silvia, president of Chicago Electric Boat Company. An annual meeting in December will be open to the public. (Right) Board of directors and officers of the Chicago Harbor Safety Committee, photographed on July 15 by U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliarist Jonathan Roth.