Marine Safety Incident and Demographic Report July 2012

Maritime safety incident statistics

Transport Safety Victoria

Annual Report

1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015

Marine safety incident statistics - 2014-15 Annual ReportPage 25 of 25

This document is a summary provided for information purposes only. No warranty or representation is made that the data or information contained in this document is accurate, reliable, complete or current or that it is suitable for a particular purpose. This document should not be relied upon as a substitute for the relevant legislation, legal or professional advice.

Published by Transport Safety Victoria

Level 15, 121 Exhibition Street

Melbourne, Victoria 3000

Telephone: 1800 223 022

© Copyright State Government of Victoria 2015.

This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).

Authorised by the Victorian Government, Melbourne.

Contents

Maritime safety incident statistics1

Contents3

Introduction4

About this report4

Key findings4

Maritime fatalities and serious injuries5

Fatalities5

Further information5

Serious injuries6

Further information6

Marine incidents- recreational8

Recreational incidents by incident type8

Recreational incidents by waterway type10

Recreational incidents by waterway11

Recreational disablement incidents13

Recreational disablement incidents by vessel type14

Marine incidents- commercial15

Commercial incidents by incident type15

Commercial incidents by month16

Commercial incidents by waterway type17

Commercial incidents by waterway18

Waterways incident analysis20

Appendix A: Data definitions and collection21

Reporting requirements in Victoria21

Explanatory notes21

Changes to data collected21

Legislative changes21

Marine incident definition21

Data definitions22

Additional incident data definitions24

IntroductionAbout this report

This report provides an overview of marine incidents that occurred in Victoria during the period 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015.

This report is an update to, and replacement for, the quarterly Marine Incident statistics reports provided throughout the 2014-15 season. It contains additional information including geospatial analysis and trending. This season’s incidents are compared with those of the three previous seasons.

The 2011-12 and 2012-13 Annual marine safety incident and demographic statistic reports also included demographic data in the form of licence statistics, recreational vessel registrations and commercial vessel surveys.

Information about the data collection and codification methodologies is detailed in Appendix A of this report.

Key findings

· During the 2014-15 boating season 10 marine fatalities resulted from seven recreational incidents and one commercial vessel incident.

· Fatalities have increased 42.86% compared with the three year average.

· There were 26 incidents that resulted in serious injury this season, an increase of 18.18 per cent compared with the three year average.

· The number of marine incidents involving recreational vessels decreased by 2.92% compared with the average of the three preceding seasons.

· Of the 1286 reported recreational incidents in the 2014-15 season, 3.03% resulted in fatality, serious injury or lost vessel which are the three worst possible outcomes for a marine incident.

· There were 61 reported commercial marine incidents in the 2014-15 boating season, a 12.96% increase compared with the average of the three preceding seasons.

· There was one fatal incident involving commercial vessels in 2014-15; this compares with two in 2013-14, none 2012-13, none in 2011-12 and one in 2010-11.

· The majority of commercial incidents occurred on either Port Phillip Bay (36%) or the Yarra River (18%).

Maritime fatalities and serious injuriesFatalities

In 2014-15 there were 10 fatalities from eight marine incidents in Victoria; this compares with 10 fatalities from 10 incidents in 2013-14, five fatalities from four incidents in 2012-13 and six fatalities from five incidents in 2011-12.

The table below contains data on fatalities that occurred as a result of marine incidents in Victoria. It shows the number of fatalities for each month of each year from 1 July 2011 through to 30 June 2015. The last column shows the total for each boating season.

Table 1: Marine incident fatalities by month from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2015

Year of incident

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Total

2011-12

2

0

0

0

2

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

6

2012-13

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

1

1

1

0

5

2013-14

0

0

1

0

1

1

6

0

0

0

0

1

10

2014-15

0

1

0

0

1

2

0

1

0

1

0

4

10

Further information

· On 8 August 2014, a 76 year old male was reported missing after he failed to return from a fishing trip on his kayak. The deceased and his kayak were located off Mount Martha, Port Phillip Bay.

· On 10 November 2014, a 44 year old male was washed overboard from a 10.4 m yacht (keel boat) approximately one nautical mile south of Seaspray on Victoria’s east coast. It has been confirmed the male was not wearing a lifejacket.

· On 3 December 2014, a 65 year old male failed to return from a fishing trip after launching from Werribee boat ramp. The 5.3 m vessel was located by Police Airwing submerged in water off Point Cook, Port Phillip Bay. The deceased was later located approximately two nautical miles from the vessel.

· On 6 December 2014, a 24 year old male died after falling overboard from his kayak at Taylors Creek Weir.

· On 20 February 2015, a 74 year old male died after falling overboard from his kayak on the Mitta Mitta River near Tallangatta. The deceased was not wearing a lifejacket at the time of the incident.

· On 25 April 2015, a crew member onboard a 195 m foreign international ship collapsed and ambulance members were unable to revive him. The Coroners Court of Victoria is investigating as the ship was at Port of Melbourne anchorage at the time of the incident.

· On 7 June 2015, a 3.4 m aluminium open boat capsized on Port Phillip Bay with three people on board aged between 30 and 35 years. A large search was conducted by Victorian Water Police and search and rescue organisations, however all three were found deceased on 8 June 2015.

· 22 June 2015, a 12 m yacht ran aground at Little Rame Head. A 65 year old male was located deceased two days later beside the vessel. The male was transiting Bass Strait from Paynesville to Eden when the incident occurred.

Serious injuries

There were 26 incidents that resulted in serious injury in the 2014-15 season, nine more than in 2013-14. Twenty one of the 26 serious injury incidents involved a recreational vessel and five incidents involved a commercial vessel.

Table 2 contains data on marine incidents that resulted in serious injury in Victoria. It shows the number of incidents that occurred in each month of each year since 1 July 2011. The last column shows the incident total for each boating season.

Table 2: Marine incident serious injuries by month from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2015

Year of incident

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Total

2011-12

1

0

1

2

1

5

7

3

3

0

0

1

24

2012-13

1

1

0

1

0

6

11

2

1

0

1

1

25

2013-14

1

1

0

0

4

3

4

3

1

0

0

0

17

2014-15

1

2

3

0

1

4

7

1

6

1

0

0

26

Further information

· 6 July 2014, one female was injured after the 6.4 m vessel she was operating ran aground and collided with a tree on the shore at Dawsons Cove, Paynesville.

· 21 August 2014, an explosion on a 25 m commercial fishing vessel injured two crew at Cunninghame Arm.

· 23 August 2014, two males were thrown overboard from their 4.2 m open vessel at Warneet Channel, Western Port. One of the males was seriously injured by the vessel’s propeller.

· 4 September 2014, a 48 year old male fell through an open hatch onboard his commercial vessel at St. Kilda Harbour.

· 21 September 2014, three men entered the water when a 4 m open vessel capsized off Indented Head, Port Phillip Bay. One of the men was taken to hospital.

· 30 September 2014, a kayaker was rescued and received medical treatment after his kayak took on water off Portsea, Port Phillip Bay.

· 21 November 2014, a commercial fishing trawler collided with a recreational vessel on Port Phillip Bay, seriously injuring the operator of the recreational vessel.

· 12 December 2014, a 26 year old male was injured when he fell from his personal watercraft (PWC) west of St. Kilda, Port Phillip Bay.

· 13 December 2014, a 14 year old collided with stationary vessel while knee boarding behind a 6.1 m ski boat on Lake Hume.

· 28 December 2014, a female fell off the personal watercraft (PWC) she was operating on Reeve Channel and broke her lower leg.

· 28 December 2014, a 4.9 m half cabin vessel capsized off Kilcunda. The vessel dragged anchor into the wave break zone allowing large swell to capsize the vessel. The master onboard sustained head injuries.

· 3 January 2015, a master on board a 7 m trailer sailer vessel on Port Phillip Bay was taken to hospital with chest pains.

· 6 January 2015, an adult and six children were injured in a ski boat explosion on Lake Nagambie.

· 7 January 2015, a 13 year old male fell off the bow of a 5.3 m vessel and was stuck by the propeller off Mount Martha on Port Phillip Bay.

· 9 January 2015, a low impact collision between a 7 year old boy on a canoe and a PWC on Lake Eildon saw the boy airlifted to hospital for precautionary observation.

· 16 January 2015, a 60 year old man was rescued, exhausted and semi-conscious 400 metres off Torquay beach after strong offshore winds blew him from his kayak.

· 25 January 2015, a 60 year old master was taken to hospital with a concussion after two yachts collided during an official yacht race on Corio Bay.

· 26 January 2015, an observer on board a 5.7 m ski boat on Lake Eildon was injured when the tow line of a water skier parted and snapped back toward the vessel.

· 18 February 2015, a 5.3 m open vessel hit low water on Marlo Bar, ejecting and injuring a 25 year old passenger.

· 7 March 2015, a 74 year old male had a heart attack on board a passenger cruise ship, Victoria Police and volunteer search and rescue assisted with the transfer of the patient to Portland.

· 22 March 2015, a 7 m open ski boat collided with a submerged object on Lake Eildon injuring the two males onboard.

· 27 March 2015, a 64 year old female has suffered unknown cardiac problems on a passenger cruise ship. Victoria Police and Volunteer Search and Rescue assisted with the transfer of paramedics to the ship.

· 28 March 2015, a passenger on board a 8.5 m cabin cruiser suffered head injuries after falling from the vessel onto the jetty at Cunninghame Arm, Lakes Entrance.

· 31 March 2015, a gas bottle explosion on board a house boat at Lake Eildon caused a large fire that injured a number of people, including children.

· 31 March 2015, three people were discovered unconscious with carbon monoxide poisoning onboard a 10.6 m cabin cruiser. The vessel was found by Victorian Water Police, out of control, doing circles 500m off St Leonards, Port Phillip Bay.

· 24 April 2015, a 6.3 m half cabin vessel with two people on board collided with a swimmer as the vessel was departing the boat ramp on Rye Channel, Port Phillip Bay.

Marine incidents- recreational

In the 2014-15 boating season, there were 1286 reported recreational marine incidents. This is a 2.92% decrease compared with the average of the three preceding seasons.

Of the 10 fatalities this season, nine involved recreational vessels. Comparing this season with the average of the three preceding seasons, the number of incidents resulting in fatality, serious injury or vessel loss (the three worst possible outcomes of a marine incident) increased by 15.86%.

The proportion of incidents that resulted in fatality, serious injury or lost vessel is 3.03%; this compared with 2.56% in 2013-14 and 2.58% in 2012-13. The proportion of incidents that resulted in no damage is 90.82%; this compared with 89.97% in 2013-14 and 89.4% in 2012-13.

Figure 1 shows the number of recreational marine incidents that occurred each boating season from 2011-12 to 2014-15. The data is also listed in the last row of Table 3 on the next page.

Figure 1: Marine incidents involving recreational vessels from 2011-12 to 2014-15

Recreational incidents by incident type

Of the 1286 recreational vessel incidents this season, 202 (15.7%) were classified as ‘serious incidents’ and 1,084 (84.3%) were disablements (refer to Appendix 1, Table 19 for the definition of a serious incident).

Serious incidents have decreased compared with the three year average however the number of fatalities remain a concern. There is no new trend or behaviour to explain the increase and no two incidents were the same. This season fatal incidents have resulted from capsizing (n=2), person overboard (n=3), grounding and loss or presumed loss of vessel. Three of the fatal incidents involved kayaks, two involved mechanically powered open vessels and two involved yachts (keel boat). Three occurred on Port Phillip Bay, two occurred on Bass Strait – Eastern, one occurred on Taylors Creek and one occurred on the Mitta Mitta River.

The only similarities between the fatal incidents this season involve the demographics of the deceased (all were male) and the lack of notification by the people involved in the incident. There was only one case where the alarm was raised by the people on the vessel (radio call picked up by nearby oil rig). In all the other cases either the vessel or deceased was found, the vessel was overdue or the incident was witnessed by others nearby.

Table 3 shows the number of marine incidents involving recreational vessels by year. The first column lists the incident type and the adjacent columns show the number of incidents that occurred in each year. The last row shows the total for each year.

Table 3: Marine incidents involving recreational vessels from 2011-12 to 2014-15

Incident type

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

Capsizing

41

43

37

33

Close quarters

2

1

0

0

Collision

20

15

23

15

Disablement of vessel

1089

1126

1012

1084

Explosion

2

6

3

2

Fire

6

8

11

9

Flooding

15

11

23

11

Grounding

86

74

89

61

Loss of stability

1

1

0

1

Loss or presumed loss of vessel

1

4

1

3

Onboard incident

8

6

6

3

Other personal injury

11

5

4

4

Person in trouble

24

26

48

38

Person overboard

13

18

15

14

Sinking

0

0

1

0

Structural failure

3

0

4

2

Swamping

10

11

10

6

Total

1332

1355

1287

1286

Recreational incidents by waterway type

Most recreational marine incidents occurred on enclosed waters (87.48%) followed by coastal inshore waters (6.38%), inland waters (4.04%) and coastal offshore waters (2.10%).

Table 4 shows the proportion of recreational marine incidents by waterway type from 2011-12 to 2014-15. The first column lists the waterway type and the adjacent columns show the proportion of incidents to occur in each year.

Table 4: Recreational marine incidents by waterway type from 2011-12 to 2014-15

Waterway type

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

Coastal inshore

6.61%

6.49%

6.29%

6.38%

Coastal offshore

2.18%

3.47%

2.80%

2.10%

Enclosed

86.41%

86.27%

86.32%

87.48%

Inland

4.73%

3.69%

4.51%

4.04%

Unnavigable

0.08%

0.07%

0.08%

0.00%

Figure 2 shows the proportion of recreational marine incidents to occur in each waterway type. The two pie-graphs allow a comparison between the average of the three preceding seasons and the current season. The first pie-graph (Figure 2) shows recreational marine incidents by waterway type for the 2011-12 to 2013-14 seasons. The second pie-graph (Figure 3) shows recreational marine incidents by waterway type for the 2014-15 season.

Figure 2: Recreational marine incidents by waterway type for the 2011-12 to 2013-14 seasons

Figure 3: Recreational marine incidents by waterway type for 2014-15 season

Recreational incidents by waterway

Recreational marine incidents occurred on 39 different waterways this season compared with 43 in 2013-14. In 2014-15, 52.88% (n=680) occurred on Port Phillip Bay and 18.97% (n=244) occurred on Western Port Bay; Table 5 below shows the top ten waterways for recreational marine incidents in 2014-15.

Table 5: Top 10 waterways for recreational marine incidents in 2014-15

Waterway name

Number of incidents

Port Phillip Bay

680

Western Port

244

Corio Bay

76

Lake Victoria

46

Bass Strait - Western

31

Bass Strait - Northern

30

Lake King

28

Bass Strait - Eastern

21

Corner Inlet

19

Lake Eildon

17

Figure 4 on the next page shows the 2014-15 recreational marine incidents by incident severity plotted geospatially over a map of Victoria.

Figure 4: Recreational marine incidents for the 2014-15 season, shown by incident severity

Recreational disablement incidents

Recreational disablement incidents have increased by 0.77% compared with the average of the three preceding seasons. Consistent with previous seasons, the majority of disablements (97.69%) resulted in no damage, which is the lowest incident severity rating.

The graph in Figure 5 shows the number of recreational disablement incidents that occurred each month, each season commencing 2011-12. The data is also listed in Table 6 below. The peak month for disablements involving recreational vessels was November (17.71%) followed by January (13.84%).

Figure 5: Recreational disablements by year and month from 2011-12 to 2014-15

Table 6: Recreational disablements by year and month from 2011-12 to 2014-15

Month

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

Jul

17

34

24

24

Aug

35

20

28

55

Sep

69

64

64

55

Oct

131

110

88

122

Nov

153

181

130

192

Dec

169

169

161

130

Jan

185

160

166

150

Feb

89

105

107

107

Mar

100

113

96

95

Apr

93

81

65

67

May

19

47

41

48

Jun

29

42

42

39

Total

1089

1126

1012

1084

Recreational disablement incidents by vessel type

Table 7 lists the percentage of recreational disablements by vessel type for the 2014-15 season. The pie-graph in Figure 6 illustrates the proportion of vessel types for recreational disablements for the 2014-15 season.

Table 7: Recreational disablements by vessel type for 2014-15

Vessel type

Total

Half cabin

41.64%

Open

38.69%

Cabin cruiser

11.03%

Yacht (keel boat)

3.58%

Personal watercraft

3.31%

Trailer sailer

0.74%

*Vessel not identified

0.46%

Yacht/catamaran (off the beach)

0.28%

Hovercraft

0.18%

Ski boat

0.09%

* Vessel type or registration number not recorded by responding agency.

Figure 6: Proportion of vessel types for recreational disablements for the 2014-15 season

Marine incidents- commercial

There were 61 reported commercial marine incidents in the 2014-15 boating season, a 12.96% increase compared with the average of the three preceding seasons.

In 2014-15, there was one fatality involving a commercial vessel, which was a foreign flagged international 195 m vessel that was at Port of Melbourne anchorage at the time of the incident. There were five incidents resulting in serious injury that involved a commercial vessel. Two incidents involved a commercial fishing vessel (class 3), two incidents involved foreign international vessels and one incident involving a non-passenger vessel (class 2).

Of the 61 commercial incidents this season, 68.85% (n=42) resulted in no damage, 19.67% (n=12) resulted in vessel damage and 1.64% (n=1) resulted in property damage.

The graph in figure 7 shows the number of commercial marine incidents that occurred each year from 2011 to 2015.

Figure 7: Marine incidents involving commercial vessels from 2011-12 to 2014-15

Commercial incidents by incident type

Of the 61 commercial vessel incidents, 41 (67.21%) were classified as serious incidents and 20 (32.78%) were disablements. Collision (n=9) and onboard incident (n=9) were the leading causes (types) of serious incidents in 2014-15 (Table 8).

Of the nine collision incidents, eight involved a collision of vessels and one involved a collision with a submerged object. Of these, six were collisions between a commercial vessel and a recreational vessel, one of which resulted in a serious injury to one person on board one of the recreational vessels. Two collisions involved two commercial vessels, one took place on the Yarra River between two passenger (class 1) vessels and one occurred at Queenscliff Marina, Port Phillip Bay between two non-passenger (class 2) vessels.

There were 14 marine incidents involving hire and drive (class 4) vessels this season, compared with ten in 2013-14 and seven in 2012-13. Of the 14 hire and drive vessel incidents six were disablements, six were groundings, one was a person overboard and one was an on-board incident.

Table 8 shows the number of marine incidents by incident type involving commercial vessels. The first column shows the incident type and the adjacent columns show the number of incidents that occurred each year. The last row shows the total for each year.

Table 8: Marine incidents involving commercial vessels from 2011-12 to 2014-15

Incident type

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

Capsizing

1

1

1

1

Close quarters

6

8

2

8

Collision

11

7

7

9

Disablement of vessel

24

22

18

20

Explosion

0

0

0

1

Fire

2

1

1

0

Flooding

0

4

0

1

Grounding

12

5

9

8

Loss of stability

0

0

1

0

Onboard incident

6

1

2

9

Other personal injury

2

0

1

0

Person in trouble

0

0

1

0

Person overboard

0

0

2

3

Sinking

1

0

0

0

Structural failure

0

0

1

1

Swamping

2

0

0

0

Total

67

49

46

61

Commercial incidents by month

The peak month for marine incidents involving commercial vessels was December (18.03%), followed by November and January (14.75%). Table 9 below shows the number of commercial marine incidents that occurred each month and each year from 1 July 2011. The last row shows the total for each year.

Table 9: Commercial marine incidents by month and year

Month

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

Jul

4

3

4

5

Aug

3

2

1

4

Sept

6

2

6

7

Oct

5

4

3

3

Nov

6

10

3

9

Dec

5

5

8

11

Jan

5

7

5

9

Feb

11

4

7

3

Mar

8

3

5

4

Apr

4

2

0

5

May

6

3

2

1

Jun

4

4

2

0

Total

67

49

46

61

Commercial marine incidents by waterway type

Commercial marine incidents occurring on enclosed waters are still the most common. Table 10 and the graph in Figure 8 show the proportion of commercial marine incidents by waterway type. The data is shown for each season from 2011-12 to 2014-15.

Table 10: Commercial marine incidents by year and waterway type

Waterway type

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

Coastal inshore

13.43%

6.12%

4.35%

8.20%

Coastal offshore

7.46%

6.12%

8.70%

3.28%

Enclosed

65.67%

75.51%

78.26%

80.33%

Inland

13.43%

12.24%

6.52%

8.20%

Outside Victorian waters*

0.00%

0.00%

2.17%

0.00%

* In Figure 8 below incidents occurring outside Victorian waters are referred to as “unnavigable”.

Figure 8: Commercial marine incidents by waterway type from 2011-12 to 2014-15

Commercial marine incidents by waterway

Of the commercial incidents reported in the 2014-15 season, 36% (n=22) occurred on Port Phillip Bay and 18% (n=11) occurred on the Yarra River.

Table 11 shows the top 10 waterways for commercial marine incidents for the 2014-15 season.

Table 11: Top 10 waterways for commercial marine incidents

Waterway Name

Total

Port Phillip Bay

22

Yarra River

11

Western Port

7

Lake Victoria

5

Bass Strait - Western

4

Cunninghame Arm

2

Lake King

2

Bass Strait - Eastern

2

Tambo River

1

Port Albert

1

Figure 9 on the next page shows the 2014-15 commercial marine incidents by incident severity plotted geospatially over a map of Victoria.

Figure 9: Commercial marine incidents for the 2014-15 season, shown by incident severity

Waterways incident analysis

This section contains a consolidation of both recreational and commercial incidents. Incidents noted as being outside Victorian waters are included because Victorian rescue assets were used to respond to the incident.

Table 12 shows the number of marine incidents by waterway type for each year commencing 2011-12.

Table 12: Marine incidents by waterway type from 2011 to 2015

Waterway type

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

Coastal inshore

97

91

83

87

Coastal offshore

34

50

40

29

Enclosed

1195

1206

1147

1174

Inland

72

56

61

57

Outside Victorian waters

1

1

2

0

Total

1399

1404

1333

1347

The 1,347 marine incidents this 2014-15 season occurred on 40 different waterways, 16 of which had only one incident recorded.

The pie-graph in Figure 10 illustrates the top ten waterways for all marine incidents for the 2014-15 season. Of the 1347 incidents this season, 92.06% (n=1,240) occurred on the following ten waterways (Figure 10).

Figure 10: Top ten waterways for marine incidents for 2014-15

Appendix A: Data definitions and collectionReporting requirements in Victoria

The following reporting requirements applied to both recreational and commercial vessels during the 2014-15 boating season:

· Victoria’s marine operators are required to report certain types of marine incidents to the Victoria Water Police under the Marine Safety Act 2010 (Vic) (MSA).

· Under section 173(1)(i) of the Transport Integration Act 2010 (Vic) one of the functions of the Director, Transport Safety is to "collect information and data about, and commission and sponsor research into, transport safety matters". Transport Safety Victoria (TSV) uses the data it collects from marine operators to monitor trends and safety risks in the marine environment across Victoria and identify regulatory interventions accordingly.

· Although not a specific legislative requirement, recreational incidents involving a request to Victoria Water Police for search and rescue assistance are reported to TSV by Victoria Water Police through the Marine Safety System.

· Reporting requirements apply to commercial vessels under the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Act 2012 (the National Law). Sections 88 and 89 in Schedule 1 of the National Law require that both the owner and master of a domestic commercial vessel involved in a marine incident report the incident to AMSA as the national regulator.

Explanatory notesChanges to data collected

This report is an update of a similar report that is published quarterly. Data is adjusted to reflect new information that comes to light during the reporting period.

Legislative changes

It appears that the introduction of the MSA on 1 July 2012 (replacing the Marine Act 1988 (Vic)) has had the expected and desired result of an increase in marine incident reporting. The increase is due to the extension of reporting requirements to include recreational marine operators and the extension of the definition of a marine incident to include a close quarters situation.

The National Law commenced on 1 July 2013, making this the first boating season in which the National Law applied to domestic commercial vessels. In Victoria, masters and owners of commercial vessels were already familiar with the requirement to report marine incidents under section 94 of the MSA. Consequently it appears the introduction of the National Law has been followed by a gradual increase in domestic commercial vessel marine incident reporting.

Marine incident definition

The National Marine Safety Data Collection Reference Manual: Data Standards and Definition for Marine Incidents 18 December 2007 (Reference Manual), defines a marine incident as an event causing or involving any of the following in connection with the operation of a vessel:

1. the death of, or injury to, any person on board a vessel, or caused by a vessel

2. the loss of a person from a vessel

3. the abandonment, loss or presumed loss of a vessel

4. the collision of a vessel with another vessel or with an object

5. the grounding, sinking, flooding or capsizing of a vessel

6. a fire or explosion aboard a vessel

7. loss of stability affecting the safety of a vessel

8. structural failure of a vessel.

Data definitions

Incident data has been codified in accordance with the Reference Manual. For convenience, an extract of the incident type descriptors is included in this document. For full explanatory notes please read this report in conjunction with the Reference Manual.

The table below provides a description of the different types of marine incidents that may be reported to TSV.

Table 17: Marine incident data definitions

Type

Description

Collision

A marine incident involving the collision of an operating vessel may include any of the following instances:

a) Collision of vessels

Striking together of two or more vessels, at least one vessel must be in operation or operating; but does not include striking a permanently fixed man-made object.

a) Collision with a fixed object

A vessel striking a permanently fixed man-made object, e.g. aid to navigation, overhead bridge, sea walls, or groynes; and does not include striking another vessel.

b) Collision with a floating object

A vessel striking an object that is waterborne and is free to move with tide, current or wind and is visible from the surface of the water; does not include living animals but does include carcasses and does not include striking another vessel.

c) Collision with an animal

Vessel striking a living animal which may or may not be normally found in a marine environment.

d) Collision with overhead obstruction

Any part of a vessel making contact with power lines, or other overhead obstructions suspended above a waterway.

e) Collision with submerged object

A vessel making contact with an object that is waterborne and may be free to move with tide, or current and is not visible from the surface of the water e.g. submerged container, submarine cable. This category does not include groundings.

f) Collision with wharf

A vessel making contact with a wharf/jetty/pontoon/boat ramp and causing damage to the vessel and/or wharf etc.

Grounding

A marine incident involving an operating vessel grounding may include any of the following instances:

a) Grounding unintentional

When a vessel unintentionally comes into contact with the bottom of a waterway so that the vessel ceases to be completely waterborne. This includes a vessel, either under command or not under command, running aground, striking or pounding on rocks, reefs or shoals, but not making contact with a beach or grounding intentionally.

b) Grounding intentional

A vessel, under command, is put aground intentionally by the operator. An intentional grounding of a vessel is not a reportable marine incident unless the vessel is damaged in some way that makes the incident reportable.

Capsizing

Vessel overturns so that the keel becomes uppermost or the vessel may lie on its side.

Sinking

A vessel becomes submerged and settles below the surface of the water.

Swamping

A vessel fills with water particularly over the side (that is, water is filling from the upper part of the vessel) but retains sufficient buoyancy to remain waterborne. If the vessel does not retain sufficient buoyancy to remain waterborne, the incident type becomes a sinking.

Flooding

A breach of the vessel’s watertight integrity (that is, water filling from the lowest part of the vessel) due to the ingress of water into the vessel. The vessel retains sufficient buoyancy to remain waterborne. If the vessel does not retain sufficient buoyancy to remain waterborne, the incident type becomes a sinking.

Loss or presumed loss of a vessel

A vessel has not returned as stated or intended prior to departure and may be considered to be missing at sea.

Structural failure

Damage to a vessel due to the structural failure of the vessel’s hull, superstructure, engines, machinery, or equipment due to such things as metal fatigue, corrosion, broken welds, wood rot, electrical faults, insufficient materials in the construction of the vessel and excessive stress or wear on any component. Examples include dismasting of sailing vessels due to the mast being broken. Does not include flooding or sinking due to a breach of the hull.

Loss of stability

The inadvertent movement of cargo, equipment or other materials which affects the vessel’s ability to return to an upright position when laterally displaced but does not include loss of stability due to swamping or flooding.

Fire

Accidental burning of a vessel’s fuels or their vapours or of any material on board a vessel.

Explosion

Accidental explosion of any material on board a vessel including vessel fuel or its vapours.

Person overboard

A person falls from a vessel into the water/sea/waterway.

Onboard injury

A marine incident involving an operating vessel where the incident occurs onboard the vessel may include any of the following instances:

a) Falls within vessel

Person onboard a vessel falls within the confines of the vessel.

b) Crushing or pinching

An incident where a person is crushed or pinched by any part of the vessel or vessel’s machinery because of the operation of the vessel.

c) Other onboard injury

Any other incident on board a vessel (passenger, crew) due to the operation of the vessel; does not include a fall overboard, falls within vessel, or crushing or pinching.

Other personal injury

A marine incident involving an operating vessel may include any of the following instances:

a) Hit by vessel or propeller

Person not on board a vessel is hit by a vessel or vessel’s propeller, this does not include a fall overboard, skiing or diving incident.

b) Skiing incident

An incident when a person is engaged in waterskiing. Waterskiing includes aquaplaning, knee boarding, wake surfing and any similar towed activity carried out in association with a vessel.

c) Parasailing incident

An incident where a person is engaged in parasailing. Parasailing is an activity utilising a parachute towed by a vessel to enable a person to become airborne.

d) Diving incident

An incident involving an operating vessel and a person engaged in a diving related activity. For the purposes of this document, a diving activity includes diving using surface-supplied breathing apparatus, SCUBA diving, breath-hold diving (also known as free diving or skin diving) and snorkelling.

e) Other incidents caused by an operating vessel

Any other incident involving a person not on board a vessel (e.g. swimmer, surfboard rider) due to the operation of a vessel; does not include a fall overboard, falls within vessel, crushing or pinching, hit by a vessel or propeller, skiing or diving incident.

Additional incident data definitions

TSV collects data regarding three additional "near miss" incident types that do not comply with the definition of a marine incident in the Reference Manual but are useful indicators of risk and decision making. The definition of a close quarters situation is the working definition used by TSV and is now included in the Marine Safety Act. The definitions of a disablement and person in trouble are working definitions only.

Table 18 provides a description of the different types of marine incidents not included in Table 17.

Table 18: Additional incident data definitions

Type

Description

Close quarters situation

a) at least 2 vessels pass within proximity of each other such that a reasonable person would in all the circumstances conclude there was a risk of collision by those vessels;

b) one vessel passes within proximity of an object such that a reasonable person would in all the circumstances conclude there was a risk of collision by that vessel with that object.

Disablement

A powered vessel becoming disabled and requiring assistance.

Person in trouble

Person(s) that require assistance because they cannot continue in their vessel unassisted.

Table 19: Other definitions

Vessel type

Description

Serious incident

Any incidents that conform to the definition of a marine incident in the Reference Manual including: capsizing, close quarters, collision, fire, flooding, grounding, loss of stability, onboard incident, other personal injury, person overboard, sinking, structural failure, swamping, and person in trouble.

Recreational vessel*

A vessel used solely for the purposes of recreational or sporting activities and not for hire or reward.

Commercial vessel *

Any vessel that is operated in connection with a commercial transaction of any kind; includes both domestic and foreign vessels.

* For a complete definition please refer to the Reference Manual.