Wednesday 24 June 2020
The new requirements for domestic commercial vessels that carry passengers came into effect on the 31 May 2020.
If you operate a vessel that takes passengers, you must:
- Include a procedure in your safety management system to ensure passengers are monitored and accounted for during a voyage. The procedure must allow the master to be able to identify how many passengers are on board at any time.
- Include an emergency procedure in your safety management system that deals with a missing passenger.
- Some operators will need to ensure that their procedures include a count of all passengers on board the vessel where one or more passengers embark on, or disembark from, the vessel-including when the vessel departs a landing point along the way or departs a site where passengers may have left the vessel to undertake a water activity.
- You must also keep a record of the results of any passenger counts in the vessel's logbook.
If you have a question about how the changes will affect your operation, you can complete our online form. You can also request someone to contact you directly to discuss your situation.
Read more about the regulatory changes to Marine order 504.