Monday 16 December 2019
We are making changes to Marine order 504 to improve passenger safety on domestic commercial vessels.
The main changes include new requirements for:
- operators of certain vessels to count all passengers on board a vessel, at any point where one or more passengers embark or disembark from the vessel, including at a landing point or to undertake a water activity
- recording results of passenger counts in the vessel logbook
- procedures for passenger monitoring so that the master can know the number of passengers on board at any time
We want to hear from owners, operators, masters and crew of vessels that carry passengers, as well as members of the public who may travel on these vessels. In particular, we are interested in feedback on:
- the period of transition to compliance with the new requirements
- whether the intent is effectively achieved by the draft amendments
- any related State or Territory laws that may need to be taken into account
- the sort of guidance that would help industry make these changes.
The consultation is open for an extended 9 week period, until 16 February 2020.
We will also release additional guidance on how to implement these changes in April 2020 when we intend to publish the Marine order amendments
These proposed amendments follow the previous consultation on passenger safety during August to October 2019.
Have your say on the draft Marine order 504 and consultation paper.