Tag: AMSA

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has become aware of some instances of scams where seafarers have received job offer emails from scammers posing as a cruise company.

The AMSA has detained the Panama flagged bulk carrier MV Apellis after an inspection revealed a number of deficiencies

Under a contract signed with AMS, a new DP2 AHT is being built in China for the Emergency Towage Vessel role

AMSA issues Marine Notice The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) issued a Marine Noticealerting the maritime industry to findings of two recent accident investigations conducted by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and the New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TIAC). These investigations have highlighted ongoing safety issues related to free-fall lifeboats and identified maintenance issues that the maritime industry should be aware of.The incidentsAquarosa (IMO No. 9506708) - On 1 March 2014, Aquarosas free-fall lifeboat was inadvertently released during a routine maintenance inspection while the ship was en route to Fremantle, Western Australia. One crew member was injured in the incident and it took 5 hours for the crew to recover the lifeboat.Aquarosas Free-fall Lifeboat arrangementDa Dan Xia (IMO No. 9451290) - On 14 April 2014, the wire lifting sling for the ships free-fall lifeboat failed catastrophically during recovery of the lifeboat after a routine launching exercise in Wellington, New Zealand. This resulted in the lifeboat falling several metres into harbour waters. One crew member was injured, and the lifeboat launching davit was rendered unserviceable.Incident analysis AquarosaThe ATSB identified that the Second Engineer accidently activated the lifeboats on-load release mechanism while carrying out a test procedure. When the Second ...

  The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has successfully prosecuted the master and owners of the Hong Kong registered bulk carrier ANL Kardinia for illegally dumping garbage in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. One Armania Shipping Ltd and the master of ANL Kardinia were found guilty on July 20 in the Townsville Magistrates Court on one charge each of illegally disposing of garbage under the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983. The illegal discharge took place on 13 February 2015 and was detected by an AMSA Inspector during a routine Port State Control inspection in Brisbane on 16 February 2015. The AMSA Inspector examined ANL Kardinia’s Garbage Record Book and discovered an entry for a discharge of food waste within the prohibited discharge area of the Great Barrier Reef. One Armania Shipping Ltd was fined $4,000 and the master was fined $300 for the illegal discharge. AMSA Chief Executive Officer Mick Kinley said masters and owners of vessels should be warned that the illegal discharge of ships’ waste would not be tolerated in Australian waters. “Australia has a robust Port State Control regime, designed to ensure ship owners and their masters are following the rules ...

PSC detentions issued by USCG and AMSA is on the increase The Liberian Registry, has recently issued two Marine Advisories to warn on the increase of detentions in the US and Australia. Due to recently increased number of PSC detentions issued by USCG and AMSA to ships calling the US and Australia respectively, LISCR issued Marine Advisories 03/2015 & 04/2015 to provide guidance to ship managers / operators and crews in order to avoid such detentions.Both the USCG and AMSA are looking for pre-existing deficiencies that are not reported prior to a vessel's arrival or at the time of their initial port State boarding.In accordance with the Advisories detentions are avoidable, provided pre-existing deficiencies are reported and there is evidence that corrective action has been initiated.In order to avoid detention and delay of the vessel's schedule the owners, operators, and DPA's are advised to follow the actions below:1. Prior Arrival actions:Require Master's and crew to report all defective and/or inoperable equipment, system, etc., and ensure corrective action has been initiated, in accordance with the Safety Management System.Notify the Administration prior to the vessels port call of any defective and/or inoperable equipment, system, etc., so we are aware and can assist ...

Advice on how to avoid detention and delay of the vessels schedule The Liberia Maritime Authority (LISCR) issued a Marine Advisory to inform Shipowners, Operators and Masters that detentions in Australia are increasing.The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has increased the number of Port State Control inspections and the number of detentions issued to ships calling on Australia. As there are a number of Liberian flagged ships which call on Australia, the number of detentions of Liberian vessels has increased accordingly.The AMSA is looking for pre-existing deficiencies that are not reported prior to a vessels arrival or at the time of their initial port State boarding. The increased scrutiny is resulting in a significant increase in AMSA detentions. If AMSA finds pre-existing deficiencies without first being notified by the Master and, if appropriate corrective action has not been initiated, AMSA will assume the owner/Master intends to sail with the deficiencies un-addressed and will issue a detention.Detentions are avoidable, provided pre-existing deficiencies are reported and there is evidence that corrective action has been initiated. We receive many pre-arrival check lists indicating all is in order, yet during the subsequent PSC inspection equipment is reported as not operating as required. Often these ...

3742 PSC inspections, 269 ship detentions AMSA has released its Annual Report on Port State Control for 2014. By drawing comparisons based on 10 years of Australian PSC data the outcome may be considered, at first view, to be disappointing with the apparent stabilisation of annual PSC deficiency and detention rates over the last 5 years.While there have been modest improvements experienced across a number of areas, the overall picture indicates that the international community's PSC/ FSC efforts are not delivering lasting results. The principal causes of detention remain consistently related to International Safety Management (ISM), fire safety, lifesaving appliances and pollution prevention.It seems difficult to reconcile how well established requirements for fire safety, lifesaving appliances and pollution prevention continue to be such significant issues.10- year summary of inspection, detentions and deficiency rateTop 5 detainable deficiencies 2012-2014Part of the cause for this situation is the increasing focus by Australia on human factors, including operational control, ISM and the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006).The marginal increase in the deficiency and detention rates can be attributed to MLC, 2006 to a large degree. The fact that there was no significant spike in detentions or deficiency rates is encouraging given 2014 was ...

3742 PSC inspections, 269 ship detentions AMSA has released its Annual Report on Port State Control for 2014, a year which marked the introduction of a significant step-change in Australia's response to ships and operators who perform poorly on a consistent basis. In November and December 2014 AMSA used the directions power provided in section 246 of the Navigation Act 2012 to ban 2 ships from entering or using Australian ports for a period of 3 months.In exercising this power it is important to note that AMSA only employs this mechanism where normal PSC intervention has not been effective in achieving a lasting change in behaviour. It is only used where a systemic failure has been identified. The essential intent of the process is to improve performance rather than simply remove problem vessels from Australian ports .2014 at a glanceDuring the calendar year there were:- 26,936 ship arrivals by 5674 foreign-flagged ships- 3742 PSC inspections- 269 ship detentionsbulk carriers accounted for 49% of ship arrivals and 57% of PSC inspectionsPSC inspections were carried out in 54 Australian portsaverage gross tonnage per visit was 46,670 tonnes10- year summary of inspection, detentions and deficiency rateReport SummaryShipping activity continued to grow fairly strongly ...

  The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) issued a Marine Notice to provide general information on Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). Annex VI of MARPOL contains regulations for the prevention of air pollution from ships and addresses the properties of marine fuels and engines, amongst other things. This Marine Notice focusses on MARPOL regulations that control emissions of sulphur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides (NOx). These controls are divided between those applicable inside Emission Control Areas (ECAs) and those applicable everywhere else. In Australia these regulations are given effect in the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships Act) 1983 and Marine Order 97 – Marine pollution prevention – air pollution. SOx and Particulate Matter Emissions SOx and particulate matter emissions are a function of the sulphur content of fuel. Accordingly, the SOx control requirements in MARPOL Annex VI provide for a progressive global reduction in the sulphur content of marine fuels to reduce the emission of SOx and particulate matter from ships. The current maximum sulphur content of fuel oil in areas other than ECAs is 3.5 per cent. This will be reduced to 0.5 ...