This report summarises our port State control activities and reports on the performance of commercial shipping companies, flag States and Classification Societies for the 2011 calendar year.
After a number of extraordinary years which saw the National Plan responding to the Pacific Adventurer and the Montara Wellhead platform incidents, the 2010-11 financial year was a period of consolidation.
The 2011-12 financial year was another busy period for the National Plan, with two significant pollution incidents, in Christmas Island and New Zealand, as well as the completion of the National Plan/National Maritime Emergency Response Arrangements review.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is the Commonwealth statutory body with responsibility for establishing and maintaining marine aids to navigation (AtoN) pursuant to section 190 of the Navigation Act 2012 (Cth).
Advice to vessel owners and masters for the Focused Inspection Campaign (FIC) on passenger (class 1) vessel tenders in Western Australia and Northern Territory.
A contractor working on a vessel fell into the water whilst disembarking due to the gap between the wharf and the vessel. A safe means of access to the vessel was not provided.
If you have an offer of employment on a ship registered on the Australian International Shipping Register (AISR), you may need a certificate of equivalence (CoE). A CoE allows you to work on an AISR-registered ship using your overseas STCW certificate, without an AMSA-issued certificate of competency or certificate of recognition.
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.
Guidance on using an exhaust gas cleaning system (EGCS) to meet the fuel sulphur limit of 0.50% m/m, as required under MARPOL Annex VI and Australian law.
Discharges into the sea from a vessel of oil, oily water, decant water, or water emanating from an oily water separator is strictly regulated under Australian maritime law.
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.