The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) issued its Marine Incident Annual Report for 2024, noting that it received a total of 5625 marine incident reports and 394 marine safety concerns, a 2.8% increase from marine incidents reported in 2023 (5472 reports).
Marine incident trends
As informed, in 2024, AMSA received a total of 1182 reports of marine incidents involving DCVs. This represents an increase of 5.0% from 2023 (1126 reports) and a 55.5% increase in the number of marine incident reports from DCVs since 2020 (760 reports). In 2024:
- Very serious marine incidents decreased from 7 in 2023 to 6 in 2024
- Serious marine incidents decreased by 17.6% (52 reports) compared to 2023
- Less serious marine incidents increased by 13.2% (108 reports) compared to 2023
When considering marine incident reports by vessel class:
- Passenger vessels continue to demonstrate a good reporting culture in relation to all other classes of vessels. Passenger vessels, which account for a relatively small proportion (8.9%) of the DCV fleet, reported almost half (46.6%) of all reported DCV marine incidents in 2024.
- Non-passenger vessels, which account for 51.3% of the DCV fleet, reported 38.2% of all marine incidents in 2024. This is slightly higher compared to 2023, where non-passenger vessels reported 37.2% of all marine incidents.
- Fishing vessels, which account for 26.3% of the DCV fleet, reported 9.9% of all marine incidents in 2024. This is slightly lower compared to 2023 data where fishing vessels reported 11.2% of all marine incidents.
- Hire & drive vessels, which account for 13.5% of the DCV fleet, reported 5.3% of all marine incidents in 2024. This represents a slight decrease compared to 2023 data where hire & drive vessels reported 6.42% of all marine incidents.
The majority (59%) of DCVs are less than 7.5 metres in length, yet these vessels comprise only 12.1% of reported marine incidents. Vessels between 7.5–12 metres closely match the proportion of reporting of marine incidents (18.4%) to their fleet size (18.0%). Vessels over 12 metres in length, which comprise 20.6% of the fleet, continue to report the majority (69.5%) of marine incidents.
Fatalities
In 2024, there were three fatal DCV marine incidents which resulted in four operational-related fatalities. This includes:
- A passenger fatality involving a truck rolling off a ferry-in-chains after the vessel broke off its moorings. The truck rolled back into the river and submerged with the truck driver inside.
- Two crew fatalities involving an aluminium fishing dinghy which capsized. The two crew were subsequently located in the water near the vessel. The crew members were not wearing lifejackets.
- A crew fatality that occurred after a crew member of a yacht was struck by the boom while competing in the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
The number of fatalities varied across vessel classes over the five-year period from 2020 to 2024, with fishing vessels associated with the highest number of fatalities. Between 2020 and 2024, there were 14 operational-related fatalities on DCVs (10 crew and 4 passengers). Seven (50%) of these occurred on fishing vessels.
In 2024, the fatality rate (the number of fatalities per 100,000 crew employed on DCVs) was 4.5. This remains lower than the fatality rate for Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing and Transport, Postal & Warehousing reported in 2023.
Injuries
In 2024, 19.2% of marine incident reports involving DCVs included an injury to a crew member or passenger. Of these, 32.1% resulted in at least one serious injury to a person.
When considering marine incident reports that involve serious injuries (crew and passengers) by class:
- Passenger vessels reported 46.2% (36) of serious injury incidents in 2024. This comprised 15 crew and 21 passenger injuries. This represents a slight increase from 2023 where passenger vessels accounted for 45.8% of all serious injuries.
- Non-passenger vessels reported 30.8% of serious injury incidents in 2024. This represents a slight decrease from 2023 (36.2%).
- Fishing vessels reported 11.5% of serious injury incidents in 2024. This is consistent with 2023 where fishing vessels reported 10.8%.
- Hire & drive vessels reported 11.5% of serious injury incidents. This represents a slight decrease compared to 2023 data where hire & drive vessels reported 7.3% of all serious injuries.
