Exemption 02 - Marine Safety (Certificates of survey)

This exemption is for owners of certain vessels who may not want to obtain a certificate of survey, or comply with certain conditions on a certificate of survey.

All domestic commercial vessels are required to have a certificate of survey unless exempt.

What this exemption will allow you to do

Exemption 02 exempts certain kinds of vessels from the requirement to have a certificate of survey, provided vessels comply with the conditions set out in Schedule 1 of this exemption.

Eligible vessels include some types of:

tenders (including auxiliaries)
vessels operating in sheltered waters (less than 12 metres long)
sailing vessels
human powered vessels
personal watercraft
volunteer marine rescue vessels
fire service vessels
vessels that weren’t required to have a certificate of survey on 30 June 2013

You do not need approval for this exemption if your vessel is:

a human powered vessel mentioned in item 2.3 of Schedule 1
a sailing vessel mentioned in item 2.4 of Schedule 1
a personal watercraft (PWC)—whether or not the PWC has an aerial freestyle device attached
an existing (grandfathered) vessel not required to have a certificate of survey on 30 June 2013.

You will need approval from us to use this exemption for all other vessels mentioned in Schedule 1.

You must:

apply to us for an exemption approval using Application for non-survey vessel (AMSA 579)
submit your application with the prescribed fee and
once approved, notify us of any changes relevant to the approval such as:
- transfer of ownership
- change of name and address of the owner
- any alterations to the vessel or changes to the vessel’s operation that may invalidate the vessel’s approval or ability to operate under this exemption.

Exemption for heritage vessels

A heritage vessel must have a certificate of survey unless it is an existing vessel that was not required to have a certificate of survey on 30 June 2013. This exemption may allow a heritage vessel to be exempt from some requirements mentioned in Marine Order 503 (Certificates of survey – national law) including:

survey inspection standards mentioned in section 5
vessel and equipment standards mentioned in sections 7 and 8
criteria for issue of a certificate mentioned in subsection 9(1)
standards that apply to the vessel in the National Standard for Commercial Vessel mentioned in paragraphs 9(2)(a)
conditions on certificates mentioned 11(1)(a) and 11(1)(f).

Approvals are subject to the following conditions:

you provide us with a vessel management plan
you maintain and operate your vessel in accordance with the vessel management plan
any changes made relating to your vessel management plan must be approved by us.

Applying to make a change to an existing non-survey vessel or its operation under Division 5 of Exemption 02

Exemption 02 (division 5) allows you to change an existing non-survey vessel or its operations (under division 5 of exemption 02). Please include the following information:

the vessel name and unique identifier
details of any alterations that you are proposing to make the vessel
details of any changes you are proposing to make to the way the vessel is operated or where it is operated
how the proposed alteration of operational changes would not jeopardise safety of the vessel or persons onboard – for example survey reports, risk assessment etc.
details of how you will mitigate the risks of making the proposed changes

Approvals will not generally be granted, if the ‘type of change’ is one of those mentioned in Schedule 1 of Marine order 503.