Boat owners at Latsi harbour in Paphos are complaining over new rules which make it impossible for them to carry out service or repairs to their vessels at the port.

Boat maintenance and cleaning has been carried out on dry land or hardstanding situated next to the harbour for years, and the latest regulations were introduced without warning, according to vessel owners.

“I have been a boat owner at Latsi for around 12 years and we usually take boats out of the water and perform antifoul and a service and any repairs that are needed and put it back in the water. This is usually done around the end of October/ November and a boat is out of the water only for around two weeks,” an angry boat owner told the Sunday Mail this week, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Antifoul is a biocide application, also known as ‘bottom paint’ and is used to protect the boat below the waterline by inhibiting the growth of slime, weed, barnacles and other animal life that can attach to the hull.

He added that the port authority, the responsible authority for the area, has not given owners a clear idea of why the decision was taken, and only said that maintenance must now be done in the water, or an area of land rented close by to carry out boat repairs.

“It’s impossible to paint the hull in the water, or to take it out of the water to a field. Some of these yachts have 40ft masts. How are people supposed to do that? There was no warning. It will affect hundreds of people,” he said.

Source: Sunday Mail