MARS user guide 2020—submitting domestic commercial vessel survey reports to AMSA

Survey lifecycle

Notification that surveys are required 

Various types of surveys are required to be carried out under the National Law to: 

• confirm that the vessel and its equipment initially comply with, or continue to comply with, the requirements of the applicable legislation and standards; and
• identify deterioration, wear or damage to the vessel that may interfere with the ability of the vessel and its equipment to continue to comply with the applicable legislation and standards.

AMSA’s MARS system will generate required survey assessment activities: 

• when an application is made for a Certificate of Survey and/or a Load Line Certificate, or an Exemption 40 approval, and 
• whenever periodic or renewal surveys are due.

Once the survey assessment activities are generated in MARS, a letter will be sent to the applicant or certificate holder. 

The letter to the applicant or certificate holder lists all the required surveys with a unique survey assessment activity code for each survey and includes a vessel summary report (see Annex A for an example of a letter). The letter advises the applicant or certificate holder: 

• to contact an accredited marine surveyor(s) or recognised organisation to attend the vessel and undertake the above required survey(s) 
• to provide the attending surveyor(s) with the attached ‘Vessel Report’ which provides a summary of the vessels particulars and the list of surveys (with their survey assessment activity codes) that are due 
• that where any deficiencies are found during the survey, the surveyor(s) will communicate these to the applicant or certificate holder, as well as AMSA 
• to rectify any deficiencies found by the attending surveyor(s) and confirm the rectification with the surveyor(s) 
• that once the survey is complete, the surveyor(s) will communicate with AMSA, confirming the clearance of all deficiencies and provide their final survey report and recommendation to AMSA.

Requests for information from AMSA

In the event that AMSA requires additional information from a surveyor in relation to a completed survey activity, surveyors will be contacted by an AMSA assessor by email, phone or post. 

Please provide the information in the manner requested in the request.

Step 1 – Setup of a user in MARS 

AMSA will issue MARS users with a username and password to enable them to log into MARS to submit survey reports online. 

Users will be sent their username and a temporary password for MARS.

1. To access MARS, users will need to download and install the free ‘VIP Access’ app on their desktop or smart phone. This app creates a new security code every 30 seconds to enable secure authentication when you login into MARS.
2. Once the app is installed, users will need to email mars.support@amsa.gov.au with the unique ‘Credential ID’ from the app so that it can be registered against their username and security settings. If you already have this app installed for other websites, the same credential ID can be used.
3. Once the ‘Credential ID’ has been registered against your username in MARS, you will be able to login into MARS for the first time.
Credential ID in the VIP Access app on a smart phone.

Step 2 – Accessing MARS   

When logging into the MARS system, users will need to enter their username, temporary password and the valid security code from the VIP Access app at the time of login.

In your internet browser, go to https://mars.amsa.gov.au Select ‘I Agree’ on the terms of use panel to continue
Enter your username Enter password Open your VIP Access app, to find the current VIP Access ‘security code’ Enter the current VIP Access ‘security code’ into the ‘Token’ field on the MARS login page Press the 'Logon' button
If this is the first time you are logging into MARS will now be asked to enter (and confirm) a new password of your choice. The password must be at least 15 characters long and have a letter, number and special character.

Step 3 – Home dashboard in MARS

Once you log into MARS, you will be presented with a ‘Home’ dashboard.

Surveyors – Under ‘Home’, you will have a number of sub-tabs available including:

Terms of use	This will show details of the terms of use.
My claim survey activities	This will show the ‘claim activity’ that will be used to enter the unique survey assessment activity code along with the vessel’s AMSA issued unique identifier to claim each survey they are engaged to perform. Where a surveyor is also associated with a survey company (also known as a Team in MARS), two claim activities will be visible. this allows the surveyor to choose which surveys are visible to the survey company they are associated with. surveys entered using a claim survey that is not associated with a Team will not be visible to the survey company.  surveys entered using a claim survey that is associated with a Team
My open surveys	This will show all the survey assessment activities that have been claimed and completed by the surveyor and that have not yet had a recommendation submitted to AMSA. This list will include all open surveys irrespective of whether they were claimed using the Team or Individual claim survey activity.
My completed surveys	This will show all historical surveys that were claimed and completed by the surveyor. This list will include all completed surveys irrespective of whether they were claimed using the team or individual claim survey activity.
MARS home dashboard, showing’ sub-tabs for a surveyor.

Administrative users – Under ‘Home’ you will have a number of sub-tabs available including: 

Terms of use	This will show details of the terms of use.
My claim survey activities	This tab will not have any claim surveys displayed as the administrative user is not a surveyor.
My open surveys	This tab will not have any open surveys assessment activities displayed as the administrative user is not a surveyor.
My completed surveys	This tab will not have any completed surveys assessment activities displayed as the administrative user is not a surveyor.
Team claim survey	This tab will show a ‘claim activity’ for each surveyor associated with the Survey Company (otherwise known as a team in MARS). The administrative user will be able to claim surveys for the applicable surveyor who conducted the survey by entering the unique survey assessment activity code along with the vessel’s AMSA issued unique identifier in the applicable surveyors claim activity.
Team open surveys	This will show all the survey assessment activities that have been claimed using a team claim activity and that have not yet had a recommendation submitted to AMSA. This includes surveys claimed by the surveyor using their ‘Team’ claim activity and those entered by the team administrative user that were claimed on behalf of a surveyor.
Team completed surveys	This will show all completed surveys that were claimed and completed using a team claim activity irrespective of whether it was entered by the surveyor directly or the administrative user on behalf of the surveyor.
MARS home dashboard, showing sub-tabs for a ‘Team’ administrative user.
To achieve the ability for company logins, MARS has been updated to allow a survey to be assigned to a company (otherwise known as a Team) and individual surveyor. This can be seen in the summary panel of a survey activity where it will be assigned to a company name (Team) as well as the individual surveyor's name.

Using the unique survey assessment activity codes and the vessel’s AMSA issued unique identifier provided by the applicant or certificate holder (described in Chapter 2) users can: 

• 'claim’ a survey assessment activity – ‘claiming’ is how a surveyor is assigned in MARS and that they will be responsible for a survey 
• report any deficiencies when they are raised 
• submit the final survey report, supporting documentation and make a recommendation to AMSA online

Step 4a – Claiming a survey assessment activity in MARS

Obtain the unique survey assessment activity codes and the vessel’s AMSA issued unique identifier from your customer. Then log into MARS and claim the corresponding surveys. You will be able to print or save a copy of the most up-to-date vessel summary report from within a survey assessment activity.

1. To enter survey information you must first select a claim activity. 

Surveyors – Click on the ‘My claim survey activities' tab to open the sub-tab and display the ‘claim survey activity’.

MARS Home Dashboard, showing 'My Claim Survey Activities’ sub-tab for a surveyor.

Administrative users – Click on the ‘Team claim survey’ tab to open the sub-tab and display the ‘claim survey activity’.

MARS home dashboard, showing ‘My Claim Survey Activities’ sub-tab for an administrative user.

2. Select the blue hyperlink under the ‘Code’ column

Surveyors – if you are not associated with a survey company, you will only have one 'Claim survey activity' to select from.

MARS home dashboard showing ‘My Claim Survey Activities’ sub-tab for a surveyor (no ‘Team’).

Surveyors – if you are associated with a survey company (known as a Team in MARS) you will have two claim survey activities in the dashboard. This allows you to choose surveys which will be visible to the company's Administrative users, but not visible to other surveyors. Surveys claimed using the survey claim acitivity that is not associated with the survey company will only be visible to the surveyor.

MARS home dashboard showing 'My Claim Survey Activities' sub-tab for a surveyor (including 'Team').

Administrative users –There may be more than one blue hyperlink to select from; one for each surveyor in your team. 

Ensure that you select the correct code for the surveyor who conducted the survey. You can check this in the next stage as the surveyors name will be populated in the activity. The content you enter will also be visible to the selected surveyor and other administrative users. It will not be visible to other surveyors associated with the team.

MARS home dashboard showing ‘My Claim Survey Activities’ sub-tab for a ‘Team’ surveyor.

3. A Claim Survey Activity window not associated with a team shows 'Assignee' only and a Claim Survey Activity window associated with a team includes team details, as shown below.

MARS Claim Survey Activity showing claim survey code overview for a survey not associated to a ‘Team’.

MARS Claim Survey Activity, showing claim survey code overview for a surveyor associated with a ‘Team’.

4. Enter the vessel’s AMSA issued unique identifier listed on the letter to the applicant or certificate holder into the ‘Vessel UVI’ field. 

5. Enter the unique survey assessment activity code listed on the letter to the applicant or certificate holder into the ‘Assessment code’ field. 

6. Select ‘Claim survey’ from the workflow action.

MARS Claim Survey Activity, showing the workflow actions panel.

7. You will then get a pop-up message asking you to confirm that you have the correct UVI and survey assessment activity code. 

Click ‘Continue’ to claim the survey. 

Click ‘Cancel’ if you have entered any of the details incorrectly and need to correct prior to continuing.

MARS Claim Survey Activity, showing the pop up.

8. By clicking continue you will claim a survey assessment activity. Claimed surveys will appear under the ‘My open surveys’. Alternatively, for Administrative users it will appear under the ‘Team open surveys’ sub-tab.

MARS My Open Surveys in a surveyor's view.

MARS My Open Surveys in an Administrative user's view.

Repeat the above steps if you have more than one survey assessment activity to claim, until you have finished claiming all the surveys you have been engaged to perform.

Error messages when claiming surveys 

1. MARS will only allow a surveyor to claim a survey assessment activity where:
   1. they have the appropriate accreditation to undertake the type of survey being claimed
   2. the vessel is built from a hull material that they are accredited for
   3. the vessel has a measured length within the range they are accredited for.
2. An error message will display after pressing claim if:
   1. a surveyor enters a vessel UVI and/or assessment code that is not valid, displaying 'The entered assessment code is not found in the system'.
   2. the survey has already been claimed by another surveyor, displaying 'This assessment has already been claimed by another user'. 
   3. a surveyor tries to claim an activity that is outside their accreditation categories, see example below.

Error message displayed if the surveyor doesn’t have the appropriate category of accreditation.

Step 4b – Unassign a claimed survey assessment activity in MARS 

Where a user has accidently claimed a survey, or chooses to return the survey to the queue for another user to claim, the user can unassign the survey assessment activity in MARS. 

1. Open MARS and go to your ‘My open surveys’ sub-tab for a surveyor, or the ‘Team open surveys’ sub-tab for an Administrative user. 

2. Find and open the survey assessment activity you would like to unassign by selecting the blue hyperlink assessment code.

3. Once you have opened the activity, it will appear as a separate tab at the top of your page.

4. Select the ‘Unassign’ workflow action.

5. A message will appear asking for confirmation that you would like to unassign yourself from the activity. 

6. Click ‘Continue’ to return the activity to the queue for another surveyor to claim, or click ‘Cancel’ if you would like to retain the survey assessment activity. 

Any information that had already been entered into the activity as well as any documents that have been uploaded will be visible to the next user that claims the activity.

Users will be able to generate a summary of the vessel, its surveys, equipment and past deficiencies (where data is available) prior to conducting a survey. 

Note: To generate a vessel summary report, you must have claimed a survey for the vessel.

Step 5a – Generating the vessel summary report in MARS

A user can generate an up-to-date vessel report in MARS which will reflect the latest available data.

1. Open MARS and go to your ‘My open surveys’ or 'My team open surveys' sub-tab.

2. Find and open the survey assessment activity for the vessel that you would like to generate a vessel summary report.

3. Once you have opened the activity, it will appear as a separate tab at the top of your page.

4. Once the survey assessment activity is open, click on the ‘Generate vessel report’ workflow action.

5. The vessel report will then appear in the ‘documents’ sub-tab.

6. Click on the blue hyperlink name, to open the document. You are then able to print or save a copy.

Step 5b – Obtaining a copy of the vessel summary report offline

The surveyor may request a copy of the vessel summary report from the applicant or certificate holder, who will have received a copy of the report with the letter provided by AMSA that details the list of required surveys.

Some survey activities require information to be entered by the user into the system. Information may need to be entered to complete or update the vessel record.

Step 6a – Entering vessel information into MARS

1. Complete the required fields in the survey assessment activity as follows

2. Enter details directly into blank fields (or update as necessary) or select from drop downs as applicable.

3. In sections that require a row to be added – select the ‘add’ hyperlink at the top of the section to add a row. 

Press add multiple times to get the number of required rows (see below screenshot). Then complete the fields for each row.

If you add too many rows, remove the row by pressing the red ‘X’ at the end of the row you want to remove (see below example screenshot of a section of a survey activity).

4. Once you have completed the mandatory fields, you can add notes (this is optional) by selecting the ‘add’ hyperlink at the top of the notes section. To add multiple notes, press ‘add’ for each new note you would like to add.

5. To remove a row (in any section), press the red ‘X’.

6. Entering SMS observations during a periodic or renewal survey (optional) – select whether the SMS was documented from the dropdown, then answer the 5 questions by selecting yes (single click – displays as a green tick) or no (double click – displays as a red ‘X’) as applicable. 

Where you select no for an item, please provide details in the comments box. 

These SMS questions are also listed on the survey recommendation forms. They are not required to be completed.

Step 6b – Notification of vessel details manually 

Send a copy of the applicable survey documentation to AMSA (eg AMSA 751 – Vessel plan approval particulars report) as supporting documentation with the final survey recommendation (see Chapter 9).

If, during the conduct of a survey, a surveyor becomes aware of a defect, deficiency or nonconformity relating to the vessel or a thing on the vessel, then the surveyor must report the matter to the National Regulator (AMSA) as soon as practicable. 

Details of the deficencies are to be: 

• notified in writing to the owner (eg AMSA 586);
• provided to the National Regulator (AMSA) either online or in writing; and
• retained by the surveyor.

Step 7a – Notification of deficiencies to AMSA via MARS

Enter identified deficiencies in the relevant survey assessment activity in MARS after conducting the survey. These can be entered and saved in MARS (along with any supporting survey documentation), without finalising the survey assessment activity. 

Once the deficiency is rectified, the surveyor is able to return to the activity and clear the deficiency(ies). Once they are all cleared, submit the survey assessment activity with their final recommendation to the National Regulator (AMSA). 

1. To enter deficiencies, the user must have first logged into MARS and claimed the relevant surveys – see Chapter 3 and Chapter 4.

2. Open MARS and go to the ‘My open surveys’ or ‘Team open surveys’ sub-tab.

3. Find and open the survey assessment activity to report deficiencies against by selecting the blue hyperlink assessment code.

4. Once you have opened the activity, it will appear as a separate tab at the top of your page. 

5. Select ‘Start assessment’ from the workflow actions menu on the left hand side of the screen. This process will also change the status in the summary panel on the left hand side of the screen from ‘Ready for assessment’ to ‘Assessment in progress’.

6. The system will enter a default start date and time and your name will already be populated as the primary surveyor. Please update the start date/time to the actual date the survey was undertaken.

7. Enter the survey location.

8. Upload any supporting documentation using the blue 'Upload file' button (see Annex B for mandatory, expected and as required documentation for each kind of survey. This may also include photos or other evidentiary documentation.) 

Please upload a copy of the Survey activity report (AMSA586). The recommendation (AMSA901 or AMSA606) is not required to be uploaded when entering deficiencies. However it should be uploaded when making the final recommendation (see Chapter 9). Maximum file upload is 20MB per file, however you can upload multiple files.

9. Scroll down to the ‘deficiencies’ section, select ‘add’; to enter a deficiency (if you have more than one deficiency, continue selecting ‘Add’ to get the number of rows you require.)

10. For each deficiency category enter: 

• The date the deficiency was raised (this will default to today’s date, however it can be changed if you are entering items found in the past). 
• Select a deficiency category from the dropdown. Single or multiple deficiencies can be recorded for a deficiency category. 
• Enter a brief description of the defect.

11. The system will default the deficiency status to ‘outstanding’ upon creation.
12. Then click ‘Save’ in the bottom right hand side of the assessment screen.
13. You can now exit the activity, and return later to clear the defects. If a deficiency has already been rectified – see Chapter 8 for instructions on clearing the deficiencies.

Step 7b – Notification of deficiencies to AMSA manually 

Send a copy of the Survey Activity report (AMSA586) detailing any identified defect, deficiency or non-conformity relating to the vessel or a thing on the vessel.

Please scan and email, or post your survey activity report to: 

Email: DCVApplications@amsa.gov.au
Post Australian Maritime Safety Authority
Attention: Vessel Safety Unit
GPO Box 2181
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia

Please ensure that the activity report has the AMSA issued UVI and the related unique survey assessment activity code(s) entered.

Once any defects, deficiencies or non-conformities that were found during survey are rectified, the surveyor is able to clear those matters and submit their final recommendation to AMSA. 

If a deficiency is disputed by the owner/operator of the vessel (e.g. they claim that the defected item is a grandfathered matter) the surveyor is able to mark the deficiency as 'disputed'. Once all other defects are rectified, the surveyor can make a recommendation to AMSA for the whole vessel other than the
disputed matters - see SAGM, Part 2 – Clause 2.9.4. 

Step 8a – Finalising deficiencies via MARS 

Finalise any identified deficiencies in the relevant survey assessment activity in MARS. These can be entered and saved in MARS (along with any supporting survey documentation), without finalising the entire survey assessment activity (e.g. they can be done all at once or over a period of time as each defect is rectified). 

Once all the deficiencies are rectified, the surveyor is able to submit the activity with their final recommendation to the National Regulator (AMSA). 

1. To finalise deficiencies, the surveyor must have first logged into MARS, claimed the relevant surveys, and entered any deficiencies – see chapters 3, 4 and 10. 

2. Open MARS and go to the ‘My open surveys’ or ‘Team open surveys’ sub-tab. 

3. Find and open the survey assessment activity you would like to finalise one or more deficiencies against by selecting the blue hyperlink assessment code. 

4. Once you have opened the activity, it will appear as a separate tab at the top of your page.

5. Upload any supporting documentation using the blue 'Upload file' button (see Annex B for mandatory, expected and as required documentation for each kind of survey. This may also include photos or other evidentiary documentation.)

6. Scroll down to the ‘deficiencies’ section, and complete the following: 

• Date completed field
• Select a deficiency status:
  • Cleared – proof: use this status when the defect has been cleared by providing proof that the matter has been rectified e.g. by providing an invoice, photo etc. 
  • Cleared – inspected: use this status when the defect has been cleared by the surveyor attending the vessel and inspecting the rectification. 
  • Cleared – declaration: use this status when the defect has been cleared by a declaration from the owner/operator.
  • Disputed: use this status when the defect has not been cleared and the owner/operator disputes that the matter is a defect. The following must also be completed for each disputed item: 
    • the surveyor must provide sufficient detail of the disputed deficiency in the dispute details field including the specific details of the standard related to the deficiency.
    • a written statement from the owner that provides details of the disputed item and the vessel history including the jurisdiction that the vessel was previously surveyed under must be uploaded in the supporting documentation section at the top of the survey assessment activity 
    • photographic evidence should be uploaded, where applicable.
  • Will not resolve: use this status when the owner/operator has advised that they do not intend to rectify the deficiencies and the surveyor intends to ‘not recommend’ the survey/vessel.

Step 8b – Finalising deficiencies via MARS offline 

Finalise any identified deficiencies on your activity report ensuring that you note how and when the defect is being finalised as follows: 

• Cleared – proof: use this status when the defect has been cleared by providing proof that the matter has been rectified eg by providing an invoice, photo etc. 
• Cleared – inspected: use this status when the defect has been cleared by the surveyor attending the vessel and inspecting the rectification. 
• Cleared – declaration: use this status when the defect has been cleared by a declaration from the owner/operator. 
• Disputed: use this status when the defect has not been cleared and the owner/operator disputes that the matter is a defect. The following must also be completed and provided for each disputed item: 
  • the surveyor must provide sufficient detail of the disputed deficiency including the specific details of the standard related to the deficiency. 
  • a written statement from the owner that provides details of the disputed item and the vessel history including the jurisdiction that the vessel was previously surveyed under must be provided as supporting documentation 
  • photographic evidence can be provided, where applicable.
• Will not resolve: use this status when the owner /operator has advised that they do not intend to rectify the deficiencies and the surveyor intends to ‘not recommend’ the survey/vessel. 

Once all the deficiencies are either rectified or have a final status (disputed or will not resolve), the surveyor is able to submit the survey activity report along with their final recommendation and any supporting documentation (see Annex B for the expected supporting documentation) to the National Regulator (AMSA).

Please scan and email, or post your survey activity report (AMSA586) and recommendation (AMSA901 or AMSA606) to: 

Email: DCVApplications@amsa.gov.au
Post Australian Maritime Safety Authority
Attention: Vessel Safety Unit
GPO Box 2181
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia

Once any defects, deficiencies or non-conformities that were found during survey are finalised (or have a final status e.g. disputed or will not resolve) the surveyor must submit their final recommendation to AMSA for each survey they have conducted. 

Step 9a – Submitting a survey recommendation online 

Once the survey process is completed, the surveyor must make a recommendation to AMSA on the outcome of the survey so that the survey assessment activity is completed in MARS (and the application or periodic process in MARS can be progressed). 

The recommendation can be submitted in MARS (along with any supporting survey documentation, checklists, photos etc.). 

1. To submit a recommendation, the surveyor must have first logged into MARS, claimed the relevant surveys, and entered any deficiencies (and their clearance method), and completed any required data entry to complete the vessel record – see Chapter 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8. 

2. Open MARS and go to the ‘My open surveys’ or ‘Team open surveys’ sub-tab.

3. Find and open the survey assessment activity you would like to submit by selecting the blue hyperlink assessment code.

4. Once you have opened the activity, it will appear as a separate tab at the top of your page. 

5. Add the completed date/time when the last defect was cleared and recommendation being made.

6. Upload the recommendation and any supporting documentation using the blue 'Upload file' button (see Annex B for mandatory, expected and as required documentation for each kind of survey. This may also include photos or other evidentiary documentation).

7. To upload a file, click the ‘Upload file’ button in the top right hand side of the survey assessment activity.

8. An ‘Upload document’ pop-up box will appear.

9. Select the ‘+ Add Files’ button to search for each file you want to upload, or you can drag and drop files into the box.

10. Browse and locate the files on your computer, then select them. Click 'Open'.

11. Once you have selected the file, you will be returned to the 'Upload document' pop-up, and the file will show in the select files section.

12. Keep adding files as required, by selecting the ‘+ 1 Files queued’ button. Drag and drop is also an option.

13. Once you have selected all the files you want to upload, select ‘Start upload’.

14. Once it has uploaded the documents, the pop-up box will disappear and the files will be uploaded in the survey assessment activity.

15. Once you have finished, you can now select a recommendation from the workflow actions as follows:

Recommend: Where a surveyor recommends a survey the vessel must fully comply with the applicable legislation and standards and the vessel must not have any outstanding deficiencies. 

Recommend with conditions: Where a surveyor recommends a survey and proposes that conditions be applied to the certificate (e.g. operational or environmental conditions), the vessel must fully comply the applicable legislation and standards and the vessel must not have any outstanding deficiencies. The surveyor must also provide details of the condition they think should be imposed and a justification for imposing the condition(s) in the ‘Proposed conditions’ field in the survey assessment activity. See SAGM, Part 2 – Clause 2.9.3.

Recommend with dispute: Where a surveyor recommends a vessel, and there is one or more deficiencies that have a status of ‘disputed’. 

Other than the disputed items, the remainder of the vessel must comply the applicable legislation and standards and the vessel must not have any other outstanding deficiencies. Supporting documentation is required to support the recommendation. See SAGM, Part 2 – Clause 2.9.4. 

Do not recommend: This is where the vessel does not comply with national standards and has outstanding deficiencies. Where a surveyor does not recommend a survey the surveyor must fully detail the deficiencies with status of ‘will not resolve’. Supporting documentation is required to support the recommendation. See SAGM, Part 2 – Clause 2.9.5.

Not required

Where the surveyor believes that a particular survey is not required, the surveyor can mark the survey as not required. The surveyor must include documented reasons as to why the survey is either not applicable to the kind of vessel, or in the particular circumstance is not required (e.g. for alterations or modifications, the system will generate the full list of initial surveys, which may not be applicable for the kind of alteration – see MO503 section 9.)

16. Once you have selected one of the above recommendations from the workflow actions, a pop-up will appear. Please enter the reason(s) for your recommendation. (e.g. if you are recommending the survey – “Vessel meets all the applicable standards (NSCV) for all service categories. All defects have been rectified”.)

17. Upload the survey recommendation (this is mandatory) – only 1 file can be uploaded from this pop-up. Any other supporting documents you would like to upload should be uploaded from within the survey assessment activity itself.

18. Click 'OK', unless you would like to make any further changes to the survey assessment activity, in which case click 'Cancel' to return to the activity.

19. The status of the survey assessment activity will be updated with the recommendation type you selected.

20. You can now close the activity by selecting the cross on the top tab.

21. The completed survey assessment activity will no longer be visible from the ‘My Open Surveys’ or ‘Team Open Surveys’ sub-tab.

22. To view completed surveys, go to the ‘My Completed Surveys’ or ‘Team Completed Surveys’ sub-tab, and select the blue hyperlink (under 'Assessment Code') to open the survey assessment activity.

Step 9b – Submitting a survey recommendation offline 

Once the survey process is completed (and any deficiencies finalised), the surveyor must make a recommendation to AMSA on the outcome of the survey so that the survey activity is completed and the application can be progressed or periodic process finalised. 

The recommendation (along with any supporting survey documentation, checklists, photos etc.) can be submitted to AMSA. Please scan and email, or post your recommendation (AMSA901 or AMSA606) and survey activity report (AMSA586) to:

Email: DCVApplications@amsa.gov.au
Post Australian Maritime Safety Authority
Attention: Vessel Safety Unit
GPO Box 2181
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia

Note: Please also ensure that you have clearly identified your recommendation as follows: 

Recommend: Where a surveyor recommends a survey the vessel must fully comply with the applicable legislation and standards and the vessel must not have any outstanding deficiencies. 

Recommend with conditions: Where a surveyor recommends a survey and proposes that conditions be applied to the certificate (e.g. operational or environmental conditions), the vessel must fully comply the applicable legislation and standards and the vessel must not have any outstanding deficiencies. The surveyor must also provide details of the condition they think should be imposed and a justification for imposing the condition(s) in the recommendation report. See SAGM, Part 2 – Clause 2.9.3. 

Recommend with dispute: Where a surveyor recommends a vessel, and there is one or more deficiencies that have a status of ‘disputed’. Other than the disputed items, the remainder of the vessel must comply the applicable legislation and standards and the vessel must not have any other outstanding deficiencies. Supporting documentation is required to support the recommendation. See SAGM, Part 2 – Clause 2.9.4. 

Do not recommend: This is where the vessel does not comply with national standards and has outstanding deficiencies. Where a surveyor does not recommend a survey the surveyor must fully detail the deficiencies with status of ‘will not resolve’. Supporting documentation is required to support the recommendation. See SAGM Part 2 – Clause 2.9.5.

Not required: Where the surveyor believes that a particular survey is not required, the surveyor can mark the survey as not required. The surveyor must include documented reasons as to why the survey is either not applicable to the kind of vessel, or in the particular circumstance is not required (eg for alterations or modifications, the system will generate the full list of initial surveys, which may not be applicable for the kind of alteration – see MO503 section 9.

After completing a survey assessment activity in MARS you are able to make changes, upload additional documents or revise your recommendation. 

Note: Revisions to a survey assessment activity cannot be made after a certificate has been issued or periodic survey process has been finalised. For example, if your survey report has already been used to decide a certificate of survey it cannot be updated in MARS. Please contact AMSA if you are unable to revise the recommendation in MARS.

Step 10a – Revising a survey recommendation in MARS 

Once the survey assessment activity in MARS has been completed with a recommendation, the user can select the ‘revise decision’ workflow action to: 

• upload additional documentation
• correct any details that were entered
• change their recommendation

1. To revise the decision on a survey assessment activity, the user must have first logged into MARS, and completed a survey assessment activity. 

2. Open MARS and go to the ‘My open surveys’ or ‘Team open surveys’ sub-tab.

3. Find and open the completed survey assessment activity that you want to revise by clicking on the blue hyperlink (under Assessment Code).

4. Click on the ‘Revise decision’ workflow action.

5. A pop-up box will appear. Enter text into the ‘Decision description’ field as to why you are revising the decision. Click ‘OK’ or click ‘Cancel’ if you do not want to revise you survey activity.

6. The survey assessment activity will now be editable again. Complete any data entry changes (or upload documents) as required, then select the appropriate workflow action as required to submit the recommendation again and complete the activity. See Chapter 9 for instructions on submitting a recommendation.

Step 10b – Submitting a revised survey recommendation offline 

If you would like to provide additional documentation, correct any details or change the recommendation please scan and email, or post your revised recommendation (AMSA901 or AMSA606) and survey activity report (AMSA586) to: 

Email: DCVApplications@amsa.gov.au
Post Australian Maritime Safety Authority
Attention: Vessel Safety Unit
GPO Box 2181
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia

Download this table (PDF 191 KB)

In accordance with the National Law – Marine Surveyors Accreditation Guidance Manual 2014, the following documentation is expected to be submitted with a survey recommendation:

Key: 

M = Mandatory
E = Expected
A = As required