Australian Maritime Safety Authority

src: www.aviationwa.org.au

Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is an Australian statutory authority established in 1990 under the Australian Maritime Safety Authority Act 1990 and governed by the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997. It is responsible for the regulation and safety oversight of Australia's shipping fleet and management of Australia's international maritime obligations. AMSA is funded largely through levies on the shipping industry. The authority has a jurisdiction over Australia's exclusive economic zone which covers an area of 11,000,000 square kilometres (4,200,000 sq mi). AMSA maintains Australia's shipping registries: the general and the international shipping registers.

AMSA is an agency within the Department of Infrastructure and Transport. Directors are appointed by the minister. Other international treaties which AMSA administers include the Navigation Act 2012 and the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983.

In the 2010-2011 financial year, AMSA recorded expenses of just over $146 million, with revenue at just under $159 million, creating a surplus of more than $10 million.

Video Australian Maritime Safety Authority

Functions

Marine safety activities of AMSA include:

• the provision, operation and maintenance of a network of marine aids to navigation, for example, lighthouses;
• ensuring the seaworthiness and safe operation of Australian and foreign vessels in Australian waters, including the enforcement of compulsory pilotage;
• administering the certification of seafarers;
• the provision of a |maritime distress and safety communications network;
• the operation of Australia's Rescue Coordination Centre and coordination of search and rescue (SAR) operations for civilian aircraft and vessels in distress; and
• the development of a maritime safety commercial vessel legislative framework and operating system.

AMSA aims to protect the marine environment by administering programs to prevent and respond to the threat of ship-sourced marine pollution; and together with the Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre, managing Australia's National Plan to combat pollution of the sea by oil and other noxious and hazardous substances.

It is responsible for administering MARPOL 73/78, an international marine environmental convention designed to minimize pollution of the seas. AMSA can instigate prosecutions itself, but mainly works with states and territories during investigations and enforcement activities such as vessel inspections. A recent major AMSA project involved the rewrite of the Navigation Act 1912, the agency's governing statute.

Maps Australian Maritime Safety Authority

National System for Domestic Commercial Vessels

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2011 directed AMSA to work co-operatively with the States and Territories to create a national system for domestic commercial vessels, including any changes to Commonwealth, State and Territory laws and administrative arrangements of the parties that are necessary to facilitate the reform. The new legislation came into effect in 2013, and the transition to the new system is expected to be completed by July 2018.

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Publications

The Authority publishes a range of materials in relation to maritime safety.As of 2011 its maritime survival manual Survival at Sea: A Training and Instruction Manual is in its 6th edition.

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See also

• Australian aerial patrol
• Coast Guards of Australia

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Notes

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External links

• Official website

Source of article : Wikipedia