There was a total of 66 reported incidents involving domestic commercial vessels in Australian waters in October 2020 and 15 of these were serious, AMSA said in its monthly casualty figures.
AMSA provides an overview of the serious incidents:
- Non-passenger: Crew member sustained a back injury during crew change transfer by tender. Tender vessel returned to shore and crew member transferred to hospital.
- Passenger: Passenger panicked while snorkelling. Rescue paramedics called in and pronounced passenger deceased. Cause of death unknown at this stage. Investigation underway.
- Non-passenger: Passenger sustained a fractured spine injury on tow vessel during rough sea conditions. Medivac required.
- Passenger: Fire onboard vessel. Cause and damage unknown at this stage.
- Passenger: Passenger lost their balance and fell overboard while fishing. In efforts to retrieve them, the tender vessel capsized. Crew and passengers were rescued by a second tender vessel. No injuries reported.
- Fishing: Vessel grounded on reef. Vessel re-floated by its own power and taken to slipway for damage assessment. No injuries or pollution reported.
- Passenger: Passenger sustained back injury after losing balance on vessel. Transferred to hospital via ambulance from jetty.
- Non-passenger: Vessel contact with wharf following steering failure when clutch engaged on its own. Minor damage to wharf fender. No injuries reported.
- Passenger: Two passengers jumped overboard during an altercation. Both recovered by vessel. Minor injuries to one passenger. Police involved.
- Fishing: Crew fell overboard while disembarking vessel. Crew member was not wearing a lifejacket. No injuries reported.
- Passenger: Vessel collided with recreational vessel causing two persons from the recreational vessel to fall overboard. Minor injuries reported.
- Passenger: Vessel lost power and propulsion due to fuel blockage. Then, water police assisted and transferred passengers back to jetty while crew conducted repairs.
- Passenger: Fire from port engine. Passengers evacuated and fire extinguished. No injuries reported. Cause unknown.
- Non-passenger: Collision with unknown vessel during passenger transfer. No injuries reported. Passengers evacuated to another vessel to complete transfer.
- Fishing: Vessel was under tow, when it rolled over. Towing vessel’s tender recovered the capsized vessel. Damage assessment and repairs underway.
See also: AMSA: 19 serious maritime incidents in September
