National Maritime Place of Refuge Risk Assessment Guidelines
National Plan to Combat the Pollution of the Sea by Oil and Other Noxious and Hazardous Substances
The need for national guidelines on places of refuge arose at the February 2002 workshop to address the operational, legal and policy aspects of "Safe Haven and Salvage" in Australia convened by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and Australian Association of Ports and Marine Authorities (AAPMA) (now Ports Australia). This followed on from a number of overseas incidents where significant concerns were expressed regarding prompt access to places of refuge for ships in distress.
The National Maritime Place of Refuge Risk Assessment Guidelines (the Guidelines) were developed by the National Plan Management Committee. The Guidelines were considered by the Australian Maritime Group, the Standing Committee on Transport and were endorsed by Ministers of the Australian Government, State Governments, and Northern Territory Government at the Australian Transport Council (ATC) meeting on 23 May 2003. An updated version was endorsed by ATC on 22 May 2009.
The Guidelines are intended to assist Australian maritime administrations, ship Masters and the maritime industry in identifying places of refuge in circumstances where an emergency cannot be dealt with at sea and the appropriate procedures to access a place of refuge.
The Guidelines apply to any maritime incident giving rise to circumstances where State/NT and/or the Commonwealth government agencies need to consider a request for a place of refuge within internal waters, the territorial sea or the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone.
The Guidelines do not seek to replace or override arrangements already in place in some Australian jurisdictions, but are designed to complement existing actions and procedures undertaken by Commonwealth / States / NT maritime authorities. As such they provide a comprehensive basis for a common national approach to considering a place of refuge request.
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