Welcome to the Autumn 2009 edition of AMSA Aboard!

• AMSA Board farewells DITRDLG Secretary and welcomes new appointment
• National Approach to Maritime Safety Regulation
• Chief Executive Officer's Report
• IMO's Flag State Implementation Sub-Committee 17th Session
• 406 MHz beacon update and the importance of appropriate disposal of old 121’s
• Northern Territory rescue
• CCS returns for Auditor Training Program
• AMSA's donation to Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal 2009
• Cooperative meetings between AMSA and South Korea
• Natship09 - Australia's sixth Natinal Shipping Industry Conference
• National Plan Response to Queensland Oil Spill
• New Zealand Coast Guard visit
• AMSA navigational buoys installed in Spencer Gulf
• Avalon Airshow
• AMSA participate in New Zealand Maritime National Exercise
• Cooperative spirit continues with Torres Strait Marine Safety Program (TSMSP) in Queensland
• Quick response to a 406 MHz

AMSA Board thanks retiring DITRDLG Secretary and welcomes new appointment

On 23 April the AMSA Board officially farewelled Mike Taylor on his retirement as Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government (DITRDLG). AMSA Chairman, Leo Zussino recognised Mr Taylor’s outstanding record of achievement within government.  The Chairman spoke about the Secretary’s high level of support for AMSA and how much it was valued within the Authority. He indicated that with such an extensive portfolio as DITRDLG, AMSA had been privileged that the Secretary had taken such an active interest in, and provided so much support for AMSA. The Chairman added that AMSA would continue to participate in initiatives such as the National Approach to Maritime Safety Regulation, further reforms arising out of the coastal shipping review and possible reform to the Navigation Act with renewed confidence due in no small part to the Secretary’s support and the strong working relationship he had fostered between the department and AMSA.

New Secretary announced AMSA's welcomes the appointment of incoming DITRDLG Secretary, Mr Mike Mrdak announced by the Prime Minister on 15 May 2009. Mr Mrdak has extensive experience in government, and until his appointment earlier this year as Co-ordinator General responsible for the implementation of the Government's Nation Building Economic Stimulus Package, Mr Mrdak was Deputy Secretary, Governance in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, with responsibility for corporate management, governance including Freedom of Information and electoral reform and Cabinet Secretariat. Mr Mrdak previously served much of his public service career in the Infrastructure Department and its predecessors, rising to the position of Deputy Secretary. He has extensive experience across the entire DITRDALG portfolio. AMSA looks forward to this new and prosperous relationship.

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National Approach to Maritime Safety Regulation (NAMSR)

In 2008, Australian Transport Ministers identified national transport and safety reforms to remove red tape and deliver consistency.  They asked for a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) to be prepared for the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) on a national system which could be administered by a single national regulator, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), under the broadened application of the Navigation Act 1912 (Cwth).  The design of the system would allow for the delivery of regulatory services by State and Northern Territory maritime agencies operating under arrangements agreed with AMSA. There are significant differences between State and Northern Territory maritime safety regulation and administrative arrangements.  The objectives of the proposed reform are to reduce the complexity for Australian commercial vessel owners, operators and suppliers and to reduce the costs associated with commercial vessels in the long term. The new reform will allow for accurate national fleet profiling allowing for linked ownership, vessel details and inspection, survey and incident history. The proposed reform does not impact on larger commercial vessels currently subject to AMSA jurisdiction. A decision to proceed will be dependent on COAG consideration of the recommended option detailed in the RIS.  The RIS discusses perceived problems with the current regulation framework, and the alternative options to address these problems including costs and benefits for a national safety system.  The proposal for reform reflects the principles agreed by State, NT and Commonwealth maritime agencies that; the regulatory burden will not increase as a result of reform and legal and administrative costs of regulatory compliance will be minimised. Two consultation RIS’s were released to stakeholders in September/October 2008 and April 2009.  Over 1,400 stakeholders attended 22 information sessions held across Australia to coincide with the release of these documents and over 90 written submissions were received. Input provided during the consultations will inform the final RIS and the Australian Transport Council (ATC) will report to COAG in the first half of 2009 on the outcome of the RIS. While this reform may not directly affect you or your future relationship with AMSA, it may change AMSA’s broader role and we encourage you to keep informed of these processes. For further information please visit www.amsa.gov.au/namsr.

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Chief Executive Officer's Report

It has been a very busy first half of the year for AMSA and it looks as though the pace is not going to slow for some time.

As all of you would be aware, we are just about to head into our national shipping week beginning 31 May.  The week will commence with the Asia-Pacific Heads of Maritime Safety Agencies Forum which will lead into Natship 09 – the sixth National Shipping Industry Conference.  Both events will be held at the Hilton Sydney.

This meeting will reinvigorate the Forum as a strategic network which promotes and enhances policy and operational partnerships and joint capacity building initiatives in the region. It will also examine the potential for broad regional and sub regional policy input on maritime safety and security, particularly in light of the impacts of the current global financial crisis.

Natship is a premier event on the international maritime calendar and this year’s event includes a wide range of national and international speakers addressing issues of current significance affecting the maritime industry such as: Shipping Challenges, Technology for the Future, Coastal Shipping, Operational Responses, and the Future for Seafarers. The theme of the 2009 event is “The Future: Our Response to the Challenges”.  We are fortunate at this year’s event to have both our Federal Minister, The Hon. Anthony Albanese MP and the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization attending as guest speakers. There is still time to register, though time is running out – you must complete your registration before 22 May.

Operationally, we have been busy with a number of shipping matters including the incident with the Pacific Adventurer off Cape Moreton in Queensland and the subsequent loss of oil and pollution.  While these kinds of clean-up operations and investigations are often fraught due to the nature of the event and the number of agencies involved, we have learned some valuable lessons.

The National Approach to Maritime Safety Regulation (NAMSR) has initiated the second Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement which was open for public comment and followed by public consultation till the end of April.  We now intend to finalise the RIS to go to Transport Ministers and ultimately COAG in July this year.  There is still much work to be done and you can read about where this is all up to in this edition of AMSAaboard.

The AMSA Board officially farewelled retiring Secretary, Mike Taylor of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, at the most recent Board meeting.  Mike’s contribution to AMSA and his support for the work that we do was recognised by our Chairman, Leo Zussino.

Search and rescue incidents have continued to keep our Rescue Coordination Centre busy and there have sadly been a number of lives lost in recent months, emphasising the necessity of good preparation and the carriage of appropriate safety equipment on the water.  Our campaign to reiterate the importance of anyone going to sea having a 406 MHz EPIRB and/or PLB, registered with AMSA has been continuing.  We have also developed an additional television Community Service Announcement alerting the public to the crucial need for appropriate disposal of old analogue beacons to prevent valuable assets being taken away from real life and death situations. 

We are continuing our cooperative partnerships with agencies both within Australia and further abroad, through our various MOU’s and auspices of the International Maritime Organization. The reciprocal support we receive via these arrangements are integral to the work we do.  There are examples of this in this edition of AMSAaboard.

I hope you enjoy this edition of AMSAaboard and I look forward to meeting up with many of you at our various events and meetings over the next few months.

Graham Peachey

IMO's Flag State Implementation Sub-Committee 17th Session

The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Maritime Operations Division, Mr Mick Kinley, attended the International Maritime Organization Flag State Implementation (FSI) Sub-Committee in London on 20 - 24 April. The FSI Sub-Committee deals with issues related to implementing IMO instruments and in particular, Port State Control. An issue of keen interest to AMSA on the agenda for this meeting was the revision of the IMO Assembly Resolution on Port State Control, A.787(19), for which Manager of Ship Inspections, Allan Schwartz, had lead a correspondence group over the past year. 

The working group agreed to a major restructure to the Resolution, which has become somewhat unwieldy and difficult to keep up to date over the years. The correspondence group will continue with this work over the next year with Mr Allan Schwartz to lead this group.

Work continues at the Sub-Committee on port reception facilities, with the shipping industry continuing to push for better facilities around the globe. The International Chamber of Shipping raised a particular concern about the ability of ships to dispose of cargo residues in special areas or Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA's).

A proposal from the European Union countries for a Code for Recognised Organisations generated considerable debate, with concerns raised by many countries that the EU was attempting to introduce recent EU directives concerning classification societies into IMO instruments. These countries succeeded in postponing work on the Code.

Michael Squires from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau also attended the meeting and spent most of his time in a working group on casualty analysis. This group trawls through investigation reports around the world and produces "lessons to seafarers".

The FSI next meets in July 2010.

Registration of 406 MHz distress beacons continue with April recording a steady 7,967 registrations. Registrations reached a peak over Easter and are beginning to show signs of slowing down. There has been a total 34,320 processed since the beginning of 2009 and to date AMSA has received approximately 100,000 distress beacons registrations in total.

Beacon Registration Statistics:

• Prior to the introduction of online distress beacon registration in July 2008, an average of 42 beacons were registered each day. Since then, this number increased and peaked at an average of 306 per day, more than seven-times the previous average.
• 60% of all beacon registrations are done via AMSA’s online registry.
• 7967 digital distress beacons were registered in April 2009.
• A record 9860 distress beacons were registered in February 2009.
• To date, AMSA has received approximately 100,000 distress beacons registrations.
• A considerable number of users who have registered their beacons online have already re-accessed their online accounts to update or add additional information.

* Statistics correct as at 4 May 2009.

AMSA continues its educational campaign regarding the importance of appropriate disposal of the now outdated analogue 121.5 MHz. AMSA has launched its second Community Service Announcement for 2009 through broadcast media to inform the community of the significance of inadvertent activations and the resources they take away from real search and rescue situations.

You can watch both of the CSA's below.

The Rescue Cordination Centre (RCC) has responded to a number of distress beacon alerts over the past three months. The importance of having a 406 MHz distress beacon was highlighted in a recent incident involving three very lucky people who had to swim ashore after their vessel capsized near Geraldton, Western Australia. An old 121.5 MHz distress beacon was activated and fortunately heard by an overflying aircraft. However the signal was only heard for a short time before ceasing as the 121.5 MHz signal is no longer detected by satellite and the RCC was unable to clarify the distress signal. Police later located the three people ashore and highlighted the importance of carrying a digital 406 MHz distress beacon. If they had been any further offshore the risk to their safety would no doubt have been much greater, and it is a timely reminder that people can not afford to risk their lives on an outdated 121.5 MHz analogue beacon. In fact, their signal may never have been heard at all.

In contrast to this incident the RCC received another distress alert that same day, this time from a 406 MHz distress beacon. The beacon was registered with AMSA and allowed the RCC to quickly obtain details of its owner. The 406 MHz distress beacon was registered to a 5.5m Shark Cat based in Mackay, Queensland. This vessel was reported to have two people and a dog on board which had become submerged 25 nautical miles North West of Mackay. The Mackay-based Rescue helicopter successfully winched all three occupants to safety.

The importance of carrying a registered 406 MHz beacon was again highlighted in the latter incident with the quick rescue, taking little more the 1.5 hours between activation, detection, rescue and safe recovery back to shore.

Numerous inadvertent and malicious activations of the outdated 121.5 MHz distress beacons are still being detected by overflying aircraft and being reported to the RCC. AMSA continues to urge the community not to rely on 121.5 MHz distress beacons and to dispose of unwanted distress beacons responsibly at any Battery World outlet. Unwanted distress beacons should NOT be disposed of in rubbish bins, tips or dumped in waterways.

For more information on digital distress beacons and the appropriate disposal methods, visit www.amsa.gov.au/beacons or contact your local maritime authority.

On 27 March, a search for an overdue vessel off Milingimbi, east of Darwin, ended successfully when all 10 occupants – six adults and four children – were located safe and well.

AMSA’s Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) – Australia was contacted by Northern Territory (NT) Police at approximately 2:00am NT local time regarding the overdue 5.5 metre dinghy on a journey from the Mooronga Community to Milingimbi.  The vessel departed Mooronga at midday on Wednesday 25 March and failed to arrive at its destination that afternoon.

RCC Australia assisted Northern Territory Police with the coordination of three aircraft – one helicopter and two fixed-wing aircraft, including AMSA’s dedicated search and rescue Dornier aircraft out of Darwin.  Net-water movements were also conducted by the RCC to determine the drift pattern of the overdue dinghy and two vessels were tasked by Police to provide surface response.

At 10.00am NT local time Friday the rescue Dornier aircraft located the missing dinghy with all 10 persons on board in the centre of the RCC’s calculated search area, approximately 17 miles Northeast of Maningrida.  The dinghy was towed back to Maningrida by NT Police Vessel Liverpool.

Two senior International Safety Management (ISM) auditors from the China Classification Society (CCS) were welcomed to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's head office in Canberra by Chief Executive Officer, Mr Graham Peachey.

The two auditors, Mr Xu and Mr Chen, are in Australia for up to three months to participate in an auditor training program developed by Ship Operations and Qualifications in conjunction with Government and International Coordination within AMSA. The visit allows the auditors to familiarise themselves with Australia’s ISM audit planning processes and methods of audit and data analysis.

The main purpose of the program is to mentor and exchange ideas relating to ISM Code auditing. The ISM Code is a safety and environmental management standard that is mandatory to most of the world fleet. The high level of experience of the CCS auditors enables them to provide opportunities to exchange experiences, information and ideas with AMSA’s own auditors and surveyors.

The auditors commenced their program with a three day induction at AMSA's head office, followed by an ISM workshop and several on-site observation audits starting in Tasmania. To get to Tasmania they travelled on the Spirit of Tasmania and while there visited the Australian Maritime College and observed two ISM audits in Hobart, including one on the Aurora Australis.  They also visited International Catamarans (Incat) and toured the company's latest 112 metre vessel. 

The auditors also travelled to Sydney participating as observers in another audit and visited a number of shipping companies, as well as the Australian National Maritime Museum and HM Bark Endeavour. The Endeavour, a Commonwealth vessel, comes under the jurisdiction of the Navigation Act and is fully surveyed by AMSA. The vessel operates with a safety management plan that meets AMSA requirements.

The two men continued onto Brisbane and again observed ISM audits conducted on the dredge Brisbane and the Svitzer Tug Austral Salvor. They witnessed emergency drills on the passenger vessel Pacific Dawn and met with Office of Transport Security to discuss Australia's approach to conducting ship security audits. Their remaining visit will see them visit Fremantle and Karratha for further audits, before their return home.

On 5 March the Australian Maritime Safety Authority presented the Red Cross with a donation for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal 2009.

AMSA staff members raised $4275 to help those tragically affected by the fires that spread across parts of Victoria earlier this year.

Belinda Barnier, Marketing, Fundraising and Communications Manager of the Canberra branch attended on behalf of the Australian Red Cross to accept the cheque presented to her by AMSA Social Club President Maree Hourigan.

Ms Barnier thanked AMSA for its generosity and its involvement in being part of the recovery process. Ms Barnier also said every cent raised would go straight to those affected by the Victorian bushfires.

Mr Mick Kinley, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Maritime Operations Division, visited South Korea during March to undertake discussions with the Maritime and Land Transport Ministry (MLTM) about a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between AMSA and MLTM.

The MoU, proposed by Maritime and Land Transport Ministry, concerns mutual cooperation between the two organisations including officer exchanges and regular meetings between organisation heads. The final MoU will be signed before the Asia-Pacific Heads of Maritime Safety Agencies Forum when the Korean delegation comes to Australia in late May.

Meetings were also held with the Korean Register and the Korean Maritime University. The Korean Register have expressed an interest in becoming an AMSA recognised organisation and are keen to have joint workshops for training shipowners in Port State Control. The Korean Maritime University received a presentation on maritime safety policy in Australia; delivered to a few hundred students at the request of the University.

Natship09 - proudly supported by the Australian Shipowners Association, Ports Australia Shipping Australia Limited, and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government- will be held at the Hilton Sydney from Wednesday 3 to Friday 5 June 2009. 

Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, Admiral Efthimios Mitropoulos will present the Keynote Address with The Hon. Anthony Albanese MP also addressing the Conference.  With the theme of The Future: Our Response to the Challenges, sessions will cover national and international challenges affecting the maritime industry with a range of high calibre speakers from Australia and overseas, including representation by:

• Asiaworld Shipping Services
• Border Protection Command
• Braemar Seascope
• China Classification Society
• Green Award Foundation
• International Labour Organization
• Maritime New Zealand
• Maritime Union of Australia
• RightShip
• Transport Canada

Registrations close on Friday 22 May 2009 and delegates are encouraged to register as soon as possible.  To register, visit www.amsa.gov.au/natship09.

The National Plan to Combat Pollution of the Sea by Oil and Other Noxious and Hazardous Substances (the National Plan) was activated on 11 March 2009 in response to the loss of some 270 tonnes of heavy fuel oil from the container ship Pacific Adventurer off Moreton Island, Queensland. The spill occurred as a result of damage to the ships fuel tanks following the loss of 31 containers overboard in gale force weather.

AMSA worked closely with the responsible agency, Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ), to provide support personnel, trajectory modelling, communications support and aerial surveillance. Gale force winds and heavy seas meant there was no possibility of any at-sea response.

The oil impacted the eastern and northern beaches and headlands of Moreton Island, the eastern beaches of Bribie Island, the beaches and foreshores of the Sunshine Coast and small areas of the Brisbane River. Staff from AMSA Environment Protection filled various roles in the response structure over a period of some six weeks. A major task for AMSA was coordination of the National Response Team, which provided a total of around 90 personnel from all States and Northern Territory on a rotational basis for almost two months.

The National Response Team personnel also filled various roles, with the main focus being the supervision of beach cleanup teams, personnel from New Zealand provided assistance. AMSA is currently in the process of arranging for an Incident Analysis Team to undertake a review of the response to determine any lessons learnt. A report is expected to be available by early July.  

Representatives of New Zealand’s Coast Guard professional volunteer’s organisation visited AMSA’s Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) on 2 April.

Chris Henshaw, who was the winner of New Zealand’s inaugural National Awards for Coast Guard Professional Volunteers (pictured receiving his award) and his host Ray Campbell, toured the RCC as part of their week long visit to Australia.

Mr Henshaw, who now works with New Zealand’s Wellington Rescue Coordination Centre, also visited Queensland and New South Wales coast guard units.

The visit allowed an opportunity for exchanging of information and an understanding of the role of professional volunteers and their relationship with RCC Australia.

AMSA navigational buoys installed in Spencer Gulf

Two new AMSA plastic navigational buoys were installed recently in the Spencer Gulf. The green starboard hand buoy SG4 was installed on 8 May and the red port hand buoy SG5 was installed on 9 May. Both buoys will enhance navigation for ships using the Spencer Gulf deep draught channel which was opened in early 2007. The channel uses eight plastic buoys nearly identical to SG4 and SG5, plus some pre-existing fixed structures.

The two new buoys are part of an ongoing program to increase the service interval for AMSA navigational buoys, with the benchmark being the existing fleet of Steel 8x28 buoys. SG4 and SG5 are 'termed' plastic buoys, with their buoyancy chambers made of brightly coloured Roto moulded plastic. The main structure of the buoy and ballast weights are steel, while the buoy towers are aluminium. When assembled the new buoys are 9m high, however for shipping both SG4 and SG5 arrived in a single tightly packed 20ft shipping container from France.

The large amount of chain on the ships deck bin is to replace the moorings of each of the eight existing plastic buoys installed in the Spencer Gulf. The maintenance work currently underway will establish how well the new plastic buoys installed in 2007 have performed in service over the last 2½ years.

Avalon Airshow

AMSA, along with AeroRescue attended the 2009 Australian International Airshow at Avalon in Victoria. AMSA took the opportunity to continue its encouragement of the ‘Switch to 406’ to aviators. 

AMSA staff were kept busy answering questions on both aviation and maritime distress beacon usage, the importance of registering 406 MHz distress beacons, and the correct disposal of old 121.5 MHz beacons. Visitors to the show were once again able to register their beacon online at the show.

AMSA participate in NZ Maritime National Exercise

In the week prior to Easter, three AMSA staff flew across the ditch to assist with New Zealand Maritime's (NZM) national oil spill exercise - Exercise Otago 09. In a reciprocal arrangement between AMSA and NZM, AMSA personnel were asked to assess and mentor the media components of the exercise, and assess the operational response to the spill.  NZM will provide some of their staff in a similar capacity when AMSA conduct their national oil spill exercise, Sea Dragon.

The exercise took place in Dunedin - a spectacular location with pristine waterways and varied wildlife - all of which would be greatly affected if a real incident were to occur in the area. The scenario was based on a tug boat putting a hole in the side of another vessel while berthing. A total of 60 tonnes of oil was notionally spilled in Port Chalmers during the exercise.

The Incident Command Centre was established within the Otago Regional Council chambers and many of the Council staff participated in the exercise. NZM Director, Cath Taylor, also spent considerable time both within the ICC and out on the water where clean up equipment was deployed. The incident was conducted in real time, including the arrival of the National Response Team, who deployed from across New Zealand and all arrived around midday on Day 1 of the exercise. A public relations company was also contracted to apply real time media input which kept both the Council and NZM media advisers very busy.

As well as providing a good insight into the management of an oil spill by our New Zealand counterparts, the exercise provided valuable contacts between AMSA and NZM and strengthened the mutual respect both authorities have for each other.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority Chief Executive Officer, Graham Peachey and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Maritime Standards Division, Gary Prosser, recently attended a steering committee of the Torres Strait Marine Safety Program (TSMSP).

The Program aims to improve boating safety within the Torres Strait communities through a range of different activities - from assistance with distress beacon distribution and registration to provision of 'grab-bags' of safety equipment for local communities and training and education campaigns.

A recent evaluation of the Program noted that the working relationship between Maritime Safety Queensland, AMSA and the Torres Strait Regional Authority, and their combined commitment to marine safety was a key strength of the Safety Program.

Quick response to a 406 MHz

On 22 April a 406 MHz distress beacon was detected by both aircraft and satellite approximately 20 miles north east of Lockhart River in Queensland. The beacon was registered to the fishing vessel, Southern Venture II. The Rescue Coordination Centre tried unsuccessfully to contact the vessel and tasked AMSA’s dedicated search and rescue Cairns-based Dornier to investigate the beacon activation.

Subsequent contact with the Southern Venture II confirmed the beacon was being carried by one of its six dories; all of which were out fishing. The Dornier, with the assistance of another dory from another fishing vessel in the area, closed in on the beacon position. They located an overturned dory with one person on top of the hull, holding his activated 406 MHz beacon. This rescue again highlights the accuracy and quick response time to a 406 MHz distress signal.  The man was rescued and returned to the Southern Venture II.