Media release

The Auditor-General for Australia has found that the Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s management of its $640 million Challenger search and rescue jet contract has been fully effective.

The findings were published in an ANAO performance audit report on the contract earlier this week.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has issued its most severe banning to date to the master and operator of the Marshall Islands flagged livestock carrier, Barkly Pearl last night.

The Barkly Pearl was initially spotted on the 3rd November 2020 travelling through Australia’s northern waters with a large hole in its hull.  

A joint operation between the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and the Northern Territory Police on 4th January 2021 has successfully saved the life of a solo yachtsman who fell into the Arafura Sea approximately 45km east of Cape Wessel, NT.

The yachtsman was wearing a life jacket with a personal locator beacon (PLB) when he unexpectedly fell into the water.  A PLB is a small device that when actived, transmits a distress signal which is detected worldwide by the global satellite system.  

A Marshall Islands-flagged tanker transiting the Torres Strait this morning has helped rescue two people from the water after their boat sank.

At about 7.15am AEST on Thursday, 3rd December 2020 a coastal pilot on board the MT Godam contacted Townsville Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) to report a sighting of two people clinging to a timber plank in the water.

The location for the sighting was about 10km southeast of Sue Islet, Warraber Reef. Conditions were rough with two to three metre swells with around 30 knot winds.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has successfully coordinated the medical evacuation of a seafarer who sustained serious injuries during an on board accident.

The vessel was travelling to Port Hedland and located approximately 1850 km off the WA coast in the Indian Ocean, when the seafarer sustained serious burns. 

From the initial call on Saturday evening to the successful medical transfer of the seafarer to hospital, the AMSA Response Centre, located in Canberra (ACT), coordinated the multi-agency medical evacuation.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has announced that from 28 February 2021 the interim COVID arrangements which have permitted seafarers to serve longer than 11 months on-board ships will end.

Under the Maritime Labour Convention the normal maximum period that a seafarer can serve aboard a vessel without leave is 11 months. Due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions and border closures, AMSA has taken a pragmatic approach to compliance with this requirement.

Nine Chinese and Filipino seafarers, some who have been on board their Panama-flagged cargo ship Brio Faith for 20 months with no leave, will be reunited with their families after an intervention by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

AMSA inspected the ship in Port Alma, Queensland on Monday, 2 November 2020 where inspectors verified that three (3) crew had been on board for over 12 months, four (4) crew had been on board for over 16 months and two (2) crew had been on board for over 20 months.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has successfully brought a damaged vessel into the Port of Geraldton.

The Marshall Islands flagged livestock carrier MV Barkly Pearl, had sustained damage to its hull and was approximately 120 kilometres north of Geraldton when AMSA became involved.

Last night, AMSA tasked its Challenger search and rescue jet to fly over the vessel and it was able to confirm damage to the starboard side of the vessel, which was listing to port.

Anthony Roy Wolfe, the owner of MV Wallaroo – an unseaworthy, ex-navy tug boat – was convicted of hindering a Commonwealth public official in Cairns Magistrate Court on Tuesday, 13 October.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has today banned the Panama-flagged bulk carrier AC Sesoda for deliberately underpaying its crew by more than AUD $118,000, which the ship’s operator attempted to conceal from authorities.

AMSA boarded the ship at Mourilyan in Queensland on Thursday, 10th September 2020 to investigate allegations about underpayment. During AMSA’s investigation, evidence was collected which confirmed that a number of crew had only been paid half of their wages since October 2019.