During a private charter a passenger fell down a stairwell and sustained serious injuries. The area around the top of the stairwell had a recess that reduced the floor area slightly and could be missed during movements. The stairs themselves were not found to be contributory to this incident. However, the spiral design proved problematic for providing post-incident medical assistance for the passenger. Any area that may present a safety risk to passengers onboard a vessel should be risk assessed, with appropriate control measures put in place to ensure passenger safety.

Consultation on electrical safety on vessels closed on 28 February 2019.

At 8.55 am on 10 September 1979, the tanker World Encouragement was conducting berthing operations at an Australian Oil Refinery (AOR) mooring at Kurnell in Botany Bay, New South Wales, when oil began rising to the water surface from beneath the ship.

The Sanko Harvest struck a reef off Esperance, Western Australia on 14 February 1991, and broke up over the next fortnight.

This edition outlines an upcoming campaign on plan approval documentation and fire safety, initial survey recommendations and more.

Shipping containers lost from ships are a cause of pollution in the marine environment.

This safety lesson describes how experienced Queensland prawn trawl fisher, Tony Sterling, developed an inpull winch that pulls in both sides of the trawl gear at the same time. The winch has delivered major safety benefits because crew no longer need to go out onto the booms.

In this edition we talk about Marine Surveyor Accreditation Guidance Manual – Part 2 , we include a Case Study about Compliance action on an AMS’s accreditation and decks on domestic commercial vessels

Survey vessels in these classes are required to carry a Scale F first aid kit on board: 1B, 1C (with unberthed passengers), 1D (with berthed passengers), 1E (with berthed passengers), 2B, 2C, 3B and 3C.

Maritime discharges of oil and noxious liquid substances during emergencies and pollution response situations.

An explosion occurred on a charter fishing vessel whilst berthed. The investigation identified that the ignition source was a lithium-ion battery that was not holding charge connected to a battery charger in a way that bypassed the battery management safety system. The vessel was beyond repair following the explosion.

These guidelines aim to assist small1 DCV operations to undertake a risk assessment as part of the vessel’s safety management system.

The FOI disclosure list describes the documents disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, and the date of disclosure.

The Vessel Traffic Services Advisory Group (VTSAG) discusses matters relating to Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) in Australia.

We are conducting a focused inspection campaign (FIC) on vessel adventure rides and experiences from October 2023 - March 2024.