Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is an Australian statutory authority responsible for the regulation and safety oversight of Australia's shipping fleet and management of Australia's international maritime obligations.[2] The authority has jurisdiction over Australia's exclusive economic zone which covers an area of 11,000,000 square kilometres (4,200,000sqmi).[3] AMSA maintains Australia's shipping registries: the general[4] and the international shipping registers.[5]
AMSA was established in 1990 under the Australian Maritime Safety Authority Act 1990[6][7] and governed by the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997. AMSA is an agency within the Department of Infrastructure and Transport.[2] Directors are appointed by the minister.[7] The international treaties which AMSA administers include the Navigation Act 2012 and the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983.[3]
Organised sea rescue in Australia was well established during the Second World War.[8] Precursor international arrangements also included usage of a range of warning and communication systems.[9]
AMSA is funded largely through levies on the shipping industry. In the 2010-2011 financial year, AMSA recorded expenses of just over $146 million, with revenue at just under $159 million, creating a surplus of more than $10 million.[10]
ensuring the seaworthiness and safe operation of Australian and foreign vessels in Australian waters, including the enforcement of compulsory pilotage[3]
administering the certification of seafarers
the provision of a maritime distress and safety communications network
It is responsible for administering MARPOL 73/78,[7] an international marine environmental convention designed to minimize pollution of the seas. AMSA can instigate prosecutions itself, but mainly works with states and territories during investigations and enforcement activities such as vessel inspections.[7] A recent major AMSA project involved the rewrite of the Navigation Act 1912, the agency's governing statute.
Shipping registers
Regulation of pedalos is a new AMSA responsibility.
AMSA maintains two shipping registers. Ships registered on an Australian shipping register have Australian nationality for international shipping law purposes. Unless otherwise exempt, Australian owned ships are required to be registered on the general or international shipping register if it is a domestic commercial vessel, 24 metres or over in tonnage length, capable of navigating the high seas, or any vessel travelling overseas.[4] Vessels engaging in international trading that are at least 24 metres in tonnage length and wholly owned or operated by Australian residents, or by Australian residents and Australian nationals may apply to be registered on the international register. There are tax incentives for ships on the international register to make the register competitive with other registers, such as vessels being operated with mixed crews, with the majority of officers and crew not being required to be Australian citizens or residents.[5] AMSA has delegated certain survey and certification functions to a number of recognised classification societies, which are members of the International Association of Classification Societies.[12][13]
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2011 directed AMSA to work co-operatively with the states and territories to create a national system for domestic commercial vessels,[14] including any changes to Commonwealth, state and territory laws and administrative arrangements of the parties that are necessary to facilitate the reform. The new legislation[15] came into effect in 2013, and the transition to the new system was completed in July 2018.[16]
Coral Knight is an anchor handling tug supply vessel modified to fulfil the role of dedicated emergency towage vessel (ETV). It is the only ETV of its type in Australia and operates in the particularly sensitive sea areas of the northern Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait.
Coral Knight is also equipped to respond to other maritime incidents such as search and rescue or limiting the effects of ship-sourced pollution of the sea and carries oil pollution response equipment.[17]
Publications
The Authority publishes a range of materials in relation to maritime safety.[18]As of 2011[update] its maritime survival manual Survival at Sea: A Training and Instruction Manual is in its 6th edition.[19]
↑ "History: Australian Search and Rescue (AusSAR)". www.amsa.gov.au. Australian Maritime Safety Authority. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015. A national centre was established by the Federal Government in 1997 for coordination of Australia's civil search and rescue (SAR) activities. ... Australian Maritime Safety Authority has merged the former aviation SAR responsibilities of Air Services Australia with its own maritime SAR responsibilities
The International Maritime Organization is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating shipping. The IMO was established following agreement at a UN conference held in Geneva in 1948 and the IMO came into existence ten years later, meeting for the first time on 17 March 1958. Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, IMO currently has 175 Member States and three Associate Members.
Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between private parties operating or using ocean-going ships. While each legal jurisdiction usually has its own legislation governing maritime matters, the international nature of the topic and the need for uniformity has, since 1900, led to considerable international maritime law developments, including numerous multilateral treaties.
A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with search and rescue without law enforcement authority. In most countries, a typical coast guard's functions are distinct from those of the navy and the transit police, while in certain countries they have similarities to both.
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search is conducted over. These include mountain rescue; ground search and rescue, including the use of search and rescue dogs ; urban search and rescue in cities; combat search and rescue on the battlefield and air-sea rescue over water.
His Majesty's Coastguard (HMCG) is a section of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency responsible, through the Secretary of State for Transport to Parliament, for the initiation and co-ordination of all maritime search and rescue (SAR) within the UK Maritime Search and Rescue Region. This includes the mobilisation, organisation and tasking of adequate resources to respond to persons either in distress at sea, or to persons at risk of injury or death on the cliffs or shoreline of the United Kingdom. Since 2015 it has also been responsible for land-based search and rescue helicopter operations.
The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) is a worldwide system for automated emergency signal communication for ships at sea developed by the United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO) as part of the SOLAS Convention.
The Canadian Coast Guard is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in Canadian waters, such as navigation aids and icebreaking, marine pollution response, and support for other Canadian government initiatives. The Coast Guard operates 119 vessels of varying sizes and 23 helicopters, along with a variety of smaller craft. The CCG is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, and is a special operating agency within Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Responsibilities for traditional coast guard duties in Australia are distributed across various federal, state and community agencies. The de facto coast guard of Australia is the Maritime Border Command, a joint command of the Australian Defence Force and the Australian Border Force which works alongside the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. Each state and territory government have specific maritime safety agencies and police marine units. In addition, there are several private volunteer coast guard organisations which act as auxiliary search and rescue services and maritime safety educators with the largest organisations being the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol established in 1937, the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard established in 1961, and Marine Rescue New South Wales established in 2009.
The Port of Hong Kong located by the South China Sea, is a deepwater seaport dominated by trade in containerised manufactured products, and to a lesser extent raw materials and passengers. A key factor in the economic development of Hong Kong, the natural shelter and deep waters of Victoria Harbour provide ideal conditions for berthing and the handling of all types of vessels. It is one of the busiest ports in the world, in the three categories of shipping movements, cargo handled and passengers carried. This makes Hong Kong a Large-Port Metropolis.
The Maritime Safety Administration of the People's Republic of China is a government agency which administers all matters related to maritime and shipping safety, including the supervision of maritime traffic safety and security, prevention of pollution from ships, inspection of ships and offshore facilities, navigational safety measures, administrative management of port operations, and law enforcement on matters of maritime safety law. It was also responsible for marine accident investigation. It is headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing.
The flag state of a merchant vessel is the jurisdiction under whose laws the vessel is registered or licensed, and is deemed the nationality of the vessel. A merchant vessel must be registered and can only be registered in one jurisdiction, but may change the jurisdiction in which it is registered. The flag state has the authority and responsibility to enforce regulations over vessels registered under its flag, including those relating to inspection, certification, and issuance of safety and pollution prevention documents. As a ship operates under the laws of its flag state, these laws are applicable if the ship is involved in an admiralty case.
The United States Coast Guard is the coastal defense, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement branch of the United States Armed Forces and is one of the country's eight uniformed services. It carries out three basic roles, which are further subdivided into eleven statutory missions. The three roles are:
Sector Commander is the position title of the commanding officer of a United States Coast Guard Sector, usually of the rank of Captain (O-6). The Sector Commander's second-in-command is the Deputy Sector Commander. Also reporting directly to the Sector Commander are the Command Master Chief (CMC), the Senior Reserve Officer, and the Sector's Auxiliary Coordinator.
An emergency tow vessel, also called emergency towing vessel, (ETV) is a multi purpose boat used by state authorities to tow disabled vessels on high seas in order to prevent dangers to man and environment. The disabled vessel is either towed to a safe haven or kept in place against wind and current until commercial assistance by tug boats has arrived on site or until it has been repaired to the extent of being able to manoeuvre on its own. The need for ETVs as a preventive measure has arisen since the number of available commercial salvage tugs was reduced while potential dangers from individual vessels have increased. E.g. Spain has fourteen, Turkey has eleven, Germany operates eight, Norway has seven, France has five, Sweden three and the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Iceland and Finland each have one official emergency tug boat. Australia also operates emergency response vessels. The United Kingdom's four strong ETV fleet was to be disbanded in September 2011 due to budget cuts but the two vessels operating in Scottish waters received an extension of contract until the end of 2011.
The 2010 Great Barrier Reef oil spill occurred on 3 April 2010, when the Chinese bulk coal carrier, MV Shen Neng 1 ran aground east of Rockhampton in Central Queensland, Australia. The vessel is owned by Shenzhen Energy Transport Co. Ltd.
Jia Yong, formerly MV Shen Neng 1 is a Chinese bulk carrier built in 1993 as Bestore. She was sold in 2007 and renamed Shen Neng 1. In 2010, she ran aground off Great Keppel Island in Queensland, Australia, spilling oil into Great Barrier Reef waters.
Maritime administrations, or flag state administrations, are the executive arms/state bodies of each government responsible for carrying out the shipping responsibilities of the state, and are tasked to administer national shipping and boating issues and laws within their territorial waters and for vessels flagged in that country, or that fall under their jurisdiction.
The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) is a South African government agency responsible for the implementation of current international and national regulations regarding the maritime industry as well as upon all recreational marine vessels within its jurisdiction.
The Directorate General of Coastal Safety has been established by the Turkish Republic Council Of Ministers’ decision on 12 May 1997 as a General Directorate and State owned Organization. The mission of the foundation is to assist and improve the safety of navigation in Turkish Waters. The organization’s core competences are:
The Joint Arctic Command is a direct Level II authority in the Danish Defence. Joint Arctic Command's primary mission in peacetime is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The command also handles tasks such as fisheries inspection, search and rescue (SAR), patient transport and other tasks that support the civil society. In short, the Joint Arctic Command handles military tasks, coast guard duties and disaster response - all in one organisation.
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