The Pacific Quest was found guilty of discharging an oily mixture from a ship into the sea near Border Island, Queensland on 25 December 2002.

A charter fishing vessel proceeding to a fishing spot began experiencing progressively worsening weather conditions and water ingress. Despite the owner’s warning prior to departure and passenger complaints, the master continued to the fishing destination. Strong winds and waves hampered anchoring, with water accumulating on deck through the transom door to the point of flooding. The vessel’s EPIRB was deployed, and a rescue helicopter attended, winching the master and passengers to safety.

A charter vessel with passengers was conducting a cruise around Sydney Harbour when it narrowly missed an unlit runabout at night. The vessel ran aground, and two attempts to tow the vessel off the sandbank were unsuccessful. The investigation found that the master did not risk-assess the route and respective conditions. The vessel safety management system provided the master with no clear direction on safe routes to follow. The command, control, and communication with and between the crew in relation to emergency procedures and response was ineffective.

A 2C rescue vessel was preparing to depart a river entrance bar with 11 people onboard. The observed sea state was a wave height (breaking) of 1.4 to 1.8 metres. The entrance bar had a moderate to high level of congestion of jet skis and surfboard riders positioned within the aids to navigation departure leads. The vessel came within very close proximity to surfers on 3 occasions whilst negotiating the breaking sea conditions. The vessel then broached upon a wave resulting in the vessel heeling to port and becoming unable to be controlled due to the force of the wave.

Passenger sustains injury from poorly rigged gangway.

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.

A fire occurred on a passenger vessel in a busy harbour. The master and crew took immediate action and followed emergency procedures to disembark and transfer 73 passengers safely to another ferry. The vessel’s structural and fixed firefighting systems worked effectively to contain and extinguish the fire.

Use these forms to apply for and manage your accreditation as a marine surveyor.

How to get certificates we have issued to you, or your seafarers, certified online.

The North-East Shipping Management Plan (NE SMP) identifies actions based on information regarding the nature of shipping activity in the north-east region.

This advice is for ship owners and masters. We will undertake a focused inspection campaign (FIC) on livestock ships from 1 March to 31 August 2021. The campaign will target all livestock ships departing Australian ports.

Planned Maintenance – 15 January 2022 to 28 February 2022AMSA conducted a Planned Maintenance Focused Inspection Campaign (FIC) over the period 15 January 2022 to 28 February 2022.

If you have been issued with an infringement notice, you have 28 days to pay the infringement penalty or contact us about your payment options.

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

On 3 August 1999 the Laura D’Amato, a 96,121 DWT Italian registered oil tanker, was berthed alongside at the Shell Gore Bay terminal in Sydney discharging its cargo of Murban light crude oil.

If your ship is found to have deficiencies during an inspection, you may be detained and delayed for an unknown amount of time.