If you are a Traditional Inhabitant of the Torres Strait and use your TIB to catch seafood and sell it, your boat is being used as a domestic commercial vessel. This page explains what that means, when you can use the TIB-specific exemption, and the steps you must follow to operate safely and legally.

The 2019-20 Australian Vessel Traffic Services Award was awarded to Warren Bath, VTS Operator at Hay Point, Queensland, for his coordination of an incident involving a bulk carrier.

Guidance on revalidating Australian certificates of competency and proficiency issued in compliance with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW).

A charter vessel transiting between research sites at night collided with a stationary vessel. The stationary vessel’s master claimed to have an anchor light on, but the crew of the charter vessel stated they did not see any navigation lights. The master of the stationary vessel was preparing food on the vessel at the time and may have obstructed the anchor light view from the charter vessel’s crew. The master of the charter vessel was found to have been operating at high speed given the conditions (night operations). This also rendered the lookout ineffective.

In Australia, domestic commercial vessels are regulated under the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Act 2012 (national law act). The National Law Act underpins the National System for Domestic Commercial Vessel Safety (national system).

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If you are no longer carrying out commercial operations outside the Australian exclusive economic zone, you can switch to being a domestic commercial vessel by surrendering your regulated Australian vessel (RAV) Certificate of survey , Maritime Labour Certificate, and load line certificate. You can then apply for domestic commercial vessel certification.

Domestic commercial fishing vessels may transit between the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around Norfolk island and the Australian mainland.

The following definitions explain the terms used specifically in the Maritime Training (MT) series documents for Registered training organisations (RTOs)

Commonwealth legislation requires a verified gross mass (VGM) be supplied before a container can be loaded onto a ship.

We have diverse teams operating all around Australia.

Your New Zealand seafarer qualifications allow you to gain a Certificate of recognition for your qualification in Australia.

All ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above engaged in international voyages must collect data on fuel consumption, distance travelled and hours underway.

The International safety management code (ISM code) governs the safe operation of ships and pollution prevention. We are responsible for issuing ISM code certification for Australian registered vessels, however AMSA has authorised recognised organisations to conduct this service.

We work with a range of stakeholders on education and safety in the Torres Strait.

On 22 March 2023, AMSA launched new artwork on the Cairns-based Challenger aircraft, designed by Torres Strait artist Michael Nona.