Amendments to investigation regulations have revised the descriptions for the types of vessels that are required to report transport safety occurrences to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
On 30 September 2021, the Transport Safety Investigation Regulations 2003 will be repealed and replaced by the new Transport Safety Investigation Regulations 2021. These regulations will update the descriptions for vessel types and reportable matters to align with terminology in the Navigation Act 2012.
The commencement of the new regulations will require the following vessel types to report certain occurrences to the ATSB:
- regulated Australian vessels (within the meaning of the Navigation Act) in the course of relevant marine navigation
- foreign vessels (within the meaning of the Navigation Act) in certain Australian waters and in the course of relevant marine navigation
- domestic commercial vessels, as defined in the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law, that are on an interstate voyage.
The regulations will also align the types of occurrences that must be reported to the ATSB (as a reportable matter) under the TSI Regulations, with 'marine incidents' that must be reported to AMSA under the Navigation Act
"In practice, these amendments won't change the process for reporting transport safety occurrences to the ATSB, and operators may continue to report occurrences directly to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, who will forward the report" ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said.
"These amendments will ensure that the Transport Safety Investigations Regulations are aligned with the terminology in the Navigation Act."
"The Regulations will continue to exclude domestic commercial vessels from these requirements, unless they are on an interstate voyage," Mr Mitchell noted.
Last update 23 September 2021
