You need a license to drive a car or fly a plane, but in Sweden just about anyone can take the helm of a 200 horsepower speedboat.
That could change if a plan to make boaters apply for licenses becomes law. The result, sailors say, could be a more bureaucratic, rule-bound sea around Sweden's rugged coasts -- but also a safer one.
"Something like around 35-40 people get killed in pleasure boat accidents or disappear every year," said Lars Hogdahl of Sweden's Ministry of Enterprise. "Some just never get found."
He is the man behind a proposal on licenses that could be in place by next summer. The idea has been mooted for more than a decade, but always met opposition among Swedes who think of boats as a 'last freedom'.
Now, even though many boaters resent restrictions, support for his plan is building in a community fed up with fellow sailors who are ignorant, reckless or drunk.
"It's a very good idea," said Oscar Lagerberg, 26, a sailing enthusiast from Sweden's west coast. "Just today we had to give way and even honk at a person who didn't keep to starboard in the fairway."
The proposal, which will apply to boats of seven meters or more or those that can exceed 10 knots, will be circulated in October to maritime groups and the coast guard.
Goran Andersson, chairman of the Swedish Boating Union, said his 160,000-strong club backs the plan. "We have something we call the Boat Parliament, where we decided to fight for this."
Mindful of a possible backlash from seasoned sea-hands, the ministry is ready to exempt those who can document a large amount of experience on the sea.
