Safety Assessment of Passengers and Houseboats: A Case Study of Kenyir Lake

Abstract

Kenyir Lake located in Terengganu, Malaysia is the largest man-made lake in mainland Southeast Asia with area of more than 200,000 hectares in size. The problem is the passenger safety is taken lightly during family-like activities.  There are three objectives of this study, the first one is to identify the element and sub-elements of the passenger safety, and secondly, to rank the element of the passenger safety onboard the houseboat, and lastly to recommend the best solution in improving the passenger safety onboard the houseboat at Kenyir Lake. At the first stage is to identify the factors that contribute to the passenger safety through literature review. The collected information will be used to form a questionnaire. Then, the field survey was conducted on houseboat through the distribution of questionnaires. The data is analyzed using AHP method, literature review and supported by expert judgement. The analyzed data can be used to recommend improvements onboard to increase the level of passenger safety. The outcome of this research shows that monitor ranked first, knowledge ranked second and respond ranked third in the passenger safety element. Recommendations such as safety auditing and inspection monthly, and implementation of machinery maintenance plan and emergency response plan are practical to secure passenger safety. To conclude, this study emphasizes the importance of the passenger safety elements according to its ranking and propose relevant solutions to boat tourism sectors and related agencies for them to carry out.