Investigations into Saturday’s jet ski collision in the Famagusta district are examining the circumstances under which a 17-year-old was operating the vessel when it collided with a towable inflatable carrying five people, leaving a man critically injured and his seven-year-old daughter seriously hurt.

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

Five people were on the inflatable, two men aged 48 and 43 and three children aged 13, 11 and 7.

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

Her 48-year-old father was taken to Nicosia general hospital, where he remains in critical condition.

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

The law generally allows a learner to operate a vessel provided they are accompanied by someone holding the appropriate licence for the vessel and navigation area. 

However, the legislation also contains 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 laid down in regulations, to operate Category B personal watercraft offered for hire by a water sports business for a geographically and time-limited trip, provided the vessel falls within prescribed power and speed limits.

Asked how this applies in practice, Aliouris said both tourists and Cypriots can sign a binding declaration before renting such a vessel.

“In the case of a tourist, but this also applies to Cypriots, you sign a binding declaration,” he said.

“The binding declaration is co-signed by the person renting it and the owner. It is clear that the declaration is signed after some training has taken place before the vessel is rented.”

The law itself provides that where the operator of a Category B vessel does not hold either an operator’s or learner’s licence, they must carry the binding declaration required under the relevant regulations. It also places an obligation on water sports businesses to ensure that legal and regulatory requirements are met before a vessel is rented out. 

The circumstances surrounding the rental, what training was provided, who signed the relevant documentation and how the jet ski came to be operated by the 17-year-old are among the issues now potentially relevant to the investigation.

Aliouris also clarified that the towable inflatable involved in the collision was being operated under the responsibility of the water sports company. “The towable inflatable is also Category B and the operator is the company,” he said.

Police spokesman Vyron Vyronos told the Cyprus Mail that Paralimni police station was investigating “all aspects of the case to establish whether any offences arise”.

The collision occurred on Saturday when the jet ski, being driven by the 17-year-old with the 18-year-old as passenger, collided under circumstances still under investigation with a towable inflatable, commonly known as a “sofa”.

The 2026 legislation also provides for potential responsibility on the part of a vessel owner or representative where they expressly or implicitly allow a vessel to be used in a manner constituting an offence, unless they can demonstrate that they were unaware of the offence and that it did not result from their own act or omission.

No determination has yet been made that an offence was committed in Saturday’s incident, with both police and the deputy ministry investigation ongoing.