Maritime safety incident statistics
Transport Safety Victoria
Annual Report
July 2013 to June 2014
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 2014.
This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance
with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968.
Authorised by the Victorian Government, Melbourne.
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 4
About this report ................................................................................................................... 4
Key findings ......................................................................................................................... 4
Maritime fatalities and serious injuries ...................................................................................... 5
Fatalities .............................................................................................................................. 5
Serious injuries .................................................................................................................... 6
Marine incidents- recreational .................................................................................................. 7
Recreational incidents by incident type ................................................................................ 7
Recreational incidents by waterway type .............................................................................. 8
Recreational incidents by waterway ................................................................................... 10
Recreational disablement incidents .................................................................................... 12
Recreational disablement incidents by vessel type............................................................. 13
Marine incidents- commercial................................................................................................. 14
Commercial incidents by incident type ............................................................................... 14
Commercial incidents by month ......................................................................................... 15
Commercial marine incidents by waterway type ................................................................. 16
Commercial marine incidents by waterway......................................................................... 17
Waterways incident analysis .................................................................................................. 19
Appendix A: data definitions and collection ............................................................................ 20
Reporting requirements in Victoria ..................................................................................... 20
Explanatory notes .............................................................................................................. 20
Changes to data collected .............................................................................................. 20
Legislative changes ........................................................................................................ 20
Marine incident definition ................................................................................................ 20
Data definitions .............................................................................................................. 21
Additional incident data definitions ................................................................................. 23
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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Introduction
About this report
This report provides an overview of marine incidents for Victoria during the 2013-14 boating
season. The 2013-14 season includes incidents that have occurred in the period 1 July 2013
to 30 June 2014.
This report is an update to, and replacement for, the quarterly Marine Incident and
Demographic statistics reports provided throughout the 2013-14 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. The following report does not include
demographic statistics in favour of releasing a stand-alone report later in the year.
Information about the data collection and codification methodologies is detailed in Appendix A
of this report.
Key findings

During the 2013-14 boating season ten marine fatalities resulted from eight
recreational incidents and two commercial vessel incidents.

The number of marine incidents involving recreational vessels increased 0.47% when
compared with the average of the three preceding seasons.

Of the 1287 reported recreational incidents in the 2013-14 season, 2.56% resulted in
fatality, serious injury or lost vessel which are the three worst possible outcomes for a
marine incident.

Recreational incidents on inland waters have increased 15.24% and incidents on
coastal inshore, costal offshore and enclosed waters have remained relatively stable
when compared with the average of the three preceding seasons.

There were 46 reported commercial marine incidents in the 2013-14 boating season, a
22.91% decrease when compared with the average of the three preceding seasons.

There were two fatal incidents involving commercial vessels in 2013-14; this compares
with none 2012-13, none in 2011-12 and one in 2010-11.

The majority of commercial incidents occurred on Port Phillip Bay (34.78%), Western
Port Bay (13%) and the Yarra River (10.87%) as was the case for the three previous
seasons.
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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Maritime fatalities and serious injuries
Fatalities
In 2013-14 there were ten fatalities from ten marine incidents in Victoria; this compares with
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 2010
through to 30 June 2014. The last column shows the total for each boating season.
Table 1: Marine incident fatalities by month from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2014
Year of
incident
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Total
2010-11
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
6
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
Further information
 3 September 2013: A 61 year old male died after falling overboard from his 4.5m open
vessel at Shallow Inlet.
 21 November 2013: A 55 year old male died when he entered the water in an attempt
to retrieve his 3.8m open vessel that had blown off shore on Lake Nillahcootie.
 13 December 2013: A 60 year old male died after he entered the water from the rear
deck of a 19m commercial charter vessel while it was manoeuvring in Port Phillip Bay.
 2 January 2014: A 28 year old male died while swimming to shore for assistance after
his 3.5m open vessel became disabled on Waranga Basin.
 5 January 2014: three men swam to shore after their 4.3m open vessel was swamped
and sank off Point Cook in rough weather. Once ashore one of the men, a 49 year old,
collapsed and died.
 10 January 2014: A 12 year old girl died and two others were injured when two vessels
collided on Lake Eppalock.
 19 January 2014: A 64 year old male died after his 5.9m half cabin vessel capsized
two nautical miles off Waratah Bay. A 34 year old male survived the incident.
 19 January 2014: A 20 year old male died after his kayak capsized in Kananook Creek.
 19 January 2014: A 36 year old male is missing after his emergency position indicating
radio beacon (EPIRB) was activated. His 6.2 metre half cabin vessel was subsequently
located upturned on the rocks at Kilcunda. The missing operator is now presumed to
be deceased.
 18 June 2014: A 64 year old male failed to return after a fishing trip off Port Fairy. His
11 m vessel was located 18 Nm South East of Port Fairy. The missing operator is now
presumed to be deceased.
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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Serious injuries
There were seventeen incidents that resulted in serious injury in the 2013-14 season, eight
fewer than in 2012-13. Sixteen of the seventeen serious injury incidents involved a
recreational vessel and one incident involved a commercial vessel.
Table 2 contains data on marine incidents that have resulted in serious injury in Victoria. It
shows the number of incidents that occurred in each month of each year since 1 July 2010.
The last column shows the incident total for each boating season.
Table 2: Marine incident serious injuries by month from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2014
Year of
incident
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Total
2010-11
0
0
0
0
2
4
7
2
0
4
2
0
21
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
Further information
 20 July 2013, cabin cruiser onboard incident on the Tambo River

1 August 2013, half cabin flooding on Port Phillip Bay

2 November 2013, ski boat fire on Lake Eppalock

4 November 2013, other personal injury caused by operating a personal watercraft
(PWC) on Lake Eildon

16 November 2013, open vessel fire on Goulburn River

26 November 2013, yacht (keel boat) grounding off San Remo in Western Port Bay

6 December 2013, other personal injury caused by operating a PWC on Port Phillip
Bay

28 December 2013, yacht (keel boat) onboard incident (falls within vessel) on Port
Phillip Bay

28 December 2013, PWC collision with a fixed object on Kangaroo Lake

4 January 2014, PWC collision with a fixed object on Western Port Bay

15 January 2014, commercial cruise ship onboard incident, approximately 100 nautical
south east of Portland

27 January 2014, PWC collision with ski boat biscuit on Curdies River

29 January 2014, open vessel grounding on Lake Lascelles

2 February 2014 person overboard from a PWC on Lake Eppalock

8 February 2014, half cabin capsized on Port Phillip Bay

23 February 2014, persons overboard from a ski boat involved in a race on Lake
Charm

13 March 2014, a kayaker capsized at Webb Dock and became tangled in either
anchor or fishing lines.
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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Marine incidents- recreational
In the 2013-14 boating season, there were 1287 reported recreational marine incidents; this is
an increase of 0.47% when compared with the average of the three preceding seasons.
Of the ten fatal incidents this season, eight involved recreational vessels. When 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 6.45%. The proportion of incidents to result in fatality, serious injury or
lost vessel is 2.56%; this compares with 2.66% in 2012-13.
Figure 1 shows the number of recreational marine incidents that occurred each boating
season from 2010-11 through to 2013-14. The data is also listed in the last row of Table 3 on
the next page.
Figure 1: Marine incidents involving recreational vessels from 2010-11 to 2013-14
Recreational incidents by incident type
Of the 1287 recreational vessel incidents this season, 275 (21.37%) were classified as
‘serious incidents’ and 1,012 (78.63%) were disablements (refer to Appendix 1, Table 19 for
the definition of a serious incident).
This season there was a 73.54% increase in ‘Person in Trouble’ incidents. Improved reporting,
specifically distinguishing the difference between a vessel disablement and person in trouble
incident, has partly contributed to the increase. It is strongly supported by the absence of rafts,
kayaks, kites and windsurfers in the disablement statistics this season when compared with
previous seasons. Of the person in trouble incidents this season, 40% (n=19) involved human
powered vessels (kayaks, rowing boats, rafts, stand-up paddle boards and canoes), 29%
(n=14) involved sail powered vessels (kites, windsurfers) and 31% (n=15) involved
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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mechanically powered vessels. Of the person in trouble incidents 93.75% resulted in no
damage and 6.25% resulted in damage to property only.
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 2010-11 to 2013-14
Incident type
Capsizing
Close quarters
Collision
Disablement of vessel
Explosion
Fire
Flooding
Grounding
Loss of stability
Loss or presumed loss of vessel
Onboard incident
Other personal injury
Person in trouble
Person overboard
Sinking
Structural failure
Swamping
Total
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
24
1
19
960
3
5
17
60
1
1
8
5
33
10
0
0
10
41
2
20
1089
2
6
15
86
1
1
8
11
24
13
0
3
10
43
1
15
1125
6
8
11
74
1
4
6
5
26
18
0
0
11
37
0
23
1012
3
11
23
89
0
1
6
4
48
15
1
4
10
1157
1332
1354
1287
Recreational incidents by waterway type
Most recreational marine incidents occurred on enclosed waters (86.32%) followed by coastal
inshore waters (6.29%), inland waters (4.51%) and coastal offshore waters (2.80%).
Table 4 shows the proportion of recreational marine incidents by waterway type from 2010-11
through to 2013-14. 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 2010-11 to 2013-14
Waterway type
Coastal inshore
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
5.96%
6.61%
6.50%
6.29%
3.20%
2.18%
3.47%
2.80%
86.60%
86.41%
86.26%
86.32%
Inland
3.28%
4.73%
3.69%
4.51%
Outside Victorian
waters
0.95%
0.08%
0.07%
0.08%
Coastal offshore
Enclosed
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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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 2010-11 to 2012-13 seasons. The second pie-graph (Figure 3) shows
recreational marine incidents by waterway type for the 2013-14 season.
Recreational incidents on inland waters have increased 15.24% this season. Incidents on
coastal inshore, costal offshore and enclosed waters have remained relatively stable when
compared with the average of the three preceding seasons.
Figure 2: Recreational marine incidents by waterway type for the 2010-11 to 2012-13
seasons
Figure 3: Recreational marine incidents by waterway type for 2013-14 season
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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Recreational incidents by waterway
Recreational marine incidents occurred on 43 different waterways this season compared with
46 in 2012-13. In 2013-14, 54% (n=697) occurred on Port Phillip Bay and 16% (n=199)
occurred on Western Port Bay; Table 5 below shows the top ten waterways for recreational
marine incidents in 2013-14.
Table 5: Top 10 waterways for recreational marine incidents in 2013-14
Waterway name
Port Phillip Bay
Western Port Bay
Corio Bay
Lake Victoria
Bass Strait - Western
Bass Strait - Northern
Lake King
Bass Strait - Eastern
Lake Eildon
Yarra River
Number of
incidents
697
199
77
49
43
35
26
25
20
15
Figure 4 on the next page shows the 2013-14 recreational marine incidents by incident
severity plotted geospatially over a map of Victoria.
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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Figure 4: Recreational marine incidents for the 2013-14 season, shown by incident severity
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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Recreational disablement incidents
Recreational disablement incidents have decreased by 4.35% when compared with the
average of the three preceding seasons. Consistent with previous seasons, the majority of
disablements (98.32%) 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 2010-11. The data is also listed in Table 6 below.
The peak month for disablements involving recreational vessels was January (16.4%)
followed by December (15.9%).
Figure 5: Recreational disablements by year and month from 2010-11 to 2013-14
Table 6: Recreational disablements by year and month from 2010-11 to 2013-14
Month
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Total
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
25
21
32
104
141
138
172
76
90
96
37
28
17
35
69
131
153
169
185
89
100
93
19
29
34
20
64
110
181
169
160
105
113
81
47
41
24
28
64
88
130
161
166
107
96
65
41
42
960
1089
1125
1012
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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Recreational disablement incidents by vessel type
Table 7 lists the percentage of recreational disablements by vessel type for the 2013-14
season. The pie-graph in Figure 6 illustrates the top five vessel types for recreational
disablements for the 2013-14 season.
Table 7: Recreational disablements by vessel type for 2013-14
Vessel type
Half cabin
Open
Cabin cruiser
Personal water craft
Yacht (keel boat)
Trailer sailer
Yacht/catamaran (off the beach)
*Vessel not identified
Houseboat
Ski boat
Sea plane
Total
41.21%
39.92%
10.57%
3.95%
2.87%
0.69%
0.30%
0.20%
0.10%
0.10%
0.10%
* Vessel type or registration number not recorded by responding agency.
Figure 6: Top five vessel types for recreational disablements for the 2013-14 season
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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Marine incidents- commercial
There were 46 reported commercial marine incidents in the 2013-14 boating season, a
22.91% decrease when compared with the average of the three preceding seasons.
In 2013-14, there were two Victorian marine fatalities involving commercial vessels, one
involving a passenger on a 19.85m passenger (class 1) vessel and the other involving a sole
operator of a 11m passenger charter vessel (class 2C).
Of the 46 commercial incidents this season, 65.22% (n=30) resulted in no damage, 26.09%
(n=12) resulted in vessel damage and 2.17% (n=1) resulted in property damage.
The graph in figure 7 shows the number of commercial marine incidents that occurred each
year from 2010 to 2014.
Figure 7: Marine incidents involving commercial vessels from 2010-11 to 2013-14
Commercial incidents by incident type
Of the 46 commercial vessel incidents, 28 (60.87%) were classified as serious incidents and
18 (39.13%) were disablements. Grounding (n=9) and collision (n=7) were the leading
causes (types) of serious incidents in 2013-14 (Table 8).
Five of the seven collision incidents involved a collision of vessels, one involved a collision
with a submerged object and one involved a collision with a fixed object. Of the five collision
of vessels incidents, two were a collision of two commercial vessels, and three were a
collision of a commercial vessel with a recreational vessel.
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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There were 10 marine incidents involving hire and drive (class 4) vessels this season,
compared with seven in 2012-13. Six of the 10 hire and drive vessel incidents this season
were disablements, three were grounding - unintentional 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 2010-11 to 2013-14
Incident type
Capsizing
Close quarters
Collision
Disablement of vessel
Fire
Flooding
Grounding
Loss of stability
Onboard incident
Other personal injury
Person in trouble
Person overboard
Sinking
Structural failure
Swamping
Total
2010-11
2
4
18
27
0
1
3
0
8
0
0
0
0
0
0
63
2011-12
1
6
11
24
2
0
12
0
6
2
0
0
1
0
2
67
2012-13
1
8
7
22
1
4
5
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
49
2013-14
1
2
7
18
1
0
9
1
2
1
1
2
0
1
0
46
Commercial incidents by month
The peak month for marine incidents involving commercial vessels was December (17.39%),
followed by February (15.22%). Table 9 below shows the number of commercial marine
incidents that occurred each month and each year from 1 July 2010. The last row shows the
total for each year.
Table 9: Commercial marine incidents by month and year
Month
Jul
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Total
2010-11
0
5
5
3
8
8
3
4
6
11
6
4
2011-12
4
3
6
5
6
5
5
11
8
4
6
4
2012-13
3
2
2
4
10
5
7
4
3
2
3
4
2013-14
4
1
6
3
3
8
5
7
5
0
2
2
63
67
49
46
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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Commercial marine incidents by waterway type
Commercial marine incidents occurring on enclosed waters are still the most common as a
proportion of total incidents. Incidents on inland waters have decreased from six in 2012-13
to three in 2013-14. 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 2010-11 to
2013-14.
Table 10: Commercial marine incidents by year and waterway type
Waterway type
Coastal inshore
Coastal offshore
Enclosed
Inland
Outside Victorian
waters*
2010-11
15.87%
4.76%
71.43%
6.35%
1.59%
2011-12
13.43%
7.46%
65.67%
13.43%
0.00%
2012-13
6.12%
6.12%
75.51%
12.24%
0.00%
2013-14
4.35%
8.70%
78.26%
6.52%
2.17%
* In Figure 8 below incidents occurring outside Victorian waters are referred to as
“unnavigable”.
Figure 8: Commercial marine incidents by waterway type from 2009-10 to 2013-14
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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Commercial marine incidents by waterway
Of the commercial incidents reported in the 2013-14 season, 34.78% (n=16) occurred on
Port Phillip Bay and 13% (n=6) occurred on Western Port Bay. There was one serious injury
incident involving a commercial vessel this season. This incident involved a passenger on a
cruise ship that was outside Victorian waters (100 nautical miles from the Victorian coast)
however Victorian assets were used in the response.
Table 11 shows the top 10 waterways for commercial marine incidents for the 2013-14
season.
Table 11: Top 10 waterways for commercial marine incidents
Waterway Name
Port Phillip Bay
Western Port Bay
Yarra River
Lake Victoria
Bass Strait - Northern
Reeve Channel & Waters
South
Bass Strait - Western
Lake King
Tambo River
Sydenham Inlet
Total
16
6
5
4
2
2
2
1
1
1
Figure 9 on the next page shows the 2013-14 commercial marine incidents by incident
severity plotted geospatially over a map of Victoria.
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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Figure 9: Commercial marine incidents for the 2013-14 season, shown by incident severity
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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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 2010-11.
Table 12: Marine incidents by waterway type from 2009 to 2013
Waterway type
Coastal inshore
Coastal offshore
Enclosed
Inland
Outside Victorian
waters
Total
2010-11
79
39
1047
42
12
2011-12
97
34
1194
71
1
2012-13
90
50
1204
56
1
2013-14
83
40
1147
61
2
1219
1397
1401
1333
The 1,333 marine incidents this 2013-14 season occurred on 44 different waterways, 16
waterways had only one incident recorded.
The pie-graph in Figure 10 illustrates the top ten waterways for all marine incidents for the
2013-14 season. Of the 1333 incidents this season, 91.75% (n=1223) occurred on the
following ten waterways (Figure 10).
Figure 10: Top ten waterways for marine incidents for 2013-14
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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Appendix A: data definitions and collection
Reporting requirements in Victoria
The following reporting requirements applied to both recreational and commercial vessels
during the 2013-14 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 requirement of this legislation, 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 notes
Changes 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 Marine Safety Act 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.
On 1 July 2013, the National Law commenced, 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 not been followed by an 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
Marine safety incident statistics - 2013-14 Annual Report
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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 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.
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Grounding
Capsizing
Sinking
Swamping
Flooding
Loss or
presumed loss
of a vessel
Structural failure
Loss of stability
Fire
Explosion
Person
overboard
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.
Vessel overturns so that the keel becomes uppermost or the vessel may
lie on its side.
A vessel becomes submerged and settles below the surface of the water.
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.
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.
A vessel has not returned as stated or intended prior to departure and
may be considered to be missing at sea.
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.
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.
Accidental burning of a vessel’s fuels or their vapours or of any material
on board a vessel.
Accidental explosion of any material on board a vessel including vessel
fuel or its vapours.
A person falls from a vessel into the water/sea/waterway.
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Onboard injury
Other personal
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.
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 below provides a description of the different types of marine incidents not included
in Table 17.
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Table 18: Additional incident data definitions
Type
Description
Close quarters
a) at least 2 vessels pass within proximity of each other such that a
situation
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
Person(s) that require assistance because they cannot continue in their
trouble
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
A vessel used solely for the purposes of recreational or sporting activities
vessel*
and not for hire or reward.
Commercial
Any vessel that is operated in connection with a commercial transaction
vessel *
of any kind; includes both domestic and foreign vessels.
* For a complete definition please refer to the Reference Manual.
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