Quick guide - Navigation

through the Great Barrier Reef

and Torres Strait
This quick guide to highlight key obligations of shipmasters while transiting through
the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait. This page does not contain all regulatory
and other obligations and duties of vessel owners/operators, masters and crew.
The safety of shipping depends on all parties having detailed knowledge of, and
complying with regulatory and other obligations and duties imposed on them in the
circumstances.
Particularly Sensitive Sea Area
Coastal Pilotage
Passage Plan
REEFVTS
Designated Shipping Areas
Defect and incident reporting
Disposal of garbage
Charts and publications
Fitness for duty
Port State Control
North East Shipping Management Plan
Collision with cetaceans

Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSA)

In 1990, the Great Barrier Reef became the worlds first
Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) designated by the
International Maritime Organization. The area was extended to
the Torres Strait in 2005. PSSAs allow additional protection
measures for example ship routeing systems to be applied to
vessels that transit the region.

Current Fact Sheet:

Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas

Coastal Pilotage
Vessels with a overall length of 70 metres or more, and all
loaded oil tankers, chemical carriers and liquefied gas carriers
irrespective of length are required to use the services of a
licensed coastal pilot in the following compulsory coastal
pilotage areas including the:

Inner Route (from Cape York to Cairns)

Great North East Channel
Torres Strait
Hydrographers Passage; and
Whitsundays

The presence of a pilot does not relieve the Master from their
overall responsibility for the safe operation of the vessel.
Current Marine Notices:
2015/10 Coastal Pilotage
2016/03 Under Keel Clearance Management System

Passage Plan
Prior to each voyage the Master must make sure that the
intended route from the port of departure to the first port of
call is planned using adequate and appropriate charts and other
nautical publications.
The Queensland Coastal Passage Plan (QCPP) has been
developed for the benefit of Masters and mates of ships
transiting the region. The QCPP improves the preparedness of
ships transiting the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait
pilotage areas by making sure that voyage plans, waypoints
and other planning considerations have been completed in a
standardised manner. Ship Masters are encouraged to prepare
their voyage plans using the QCPP.
Current Marine Notices:
2015/16 IMO-adopted ships routeing systems to be
introduced in the Coral Sea
2014/17 Sound navigational practices
Media Release

REEFVTS
The Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait Vessel Traffic Service
(REEFVTS) provides near-real time monitoring of shipping
movements in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and Torres
Strait. It is compulsory for vessels to meet reporting
requirements for this area.
The REEFVTS User Guide informs Masters of REEFVTS
reporting obligations as well as describing the requirements
for ships entering and transiting through the REEFVTS area. It
also describes the vessel traffic services (VTS) provided by
REEFVTS.
Vessels with a overall length of 50 metres or more, all oil
tankers, chemical carriers, liquefied gas carriers, vessels
coming within the INF Code (International Code for the Safe
Carriage of Packaged Irradiated Nuclear Fuel, Plutonium and
High-Level Radioactive Wastes on Board Ships) irrespective
of length, as well as vessels engaged in towing or pushing
where the length of the tow exceeds 150 metres, must report to
REEFVTS.
A ship must send the following reports to REEFVTS:

A pre-entry Position Report

Final Reports

Additional reports which must be sent to REEFVTS include:

Route Deviation Report

Intermediate Position Reports
Defects Reports

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Designated

Shipping Area
Vessels may only navigate within the Designated Shipping
Area (DSA) or the General Use Zones of the Great Barrier
Reef Marine Park. To navigate outside of the areas, a permit
must be obtained from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Authority (GBRMPA).
More information on the DSA is available from GBRMPA and is

provided in the Seafarers Handbook for Australian Waters (AHP20).

This publication should be carried when navigating in the GBR.

.
Designated Shipping Area

Defect and incident reporting

Masters and/or owners are required to comply with Ship
Safety and International Convention for the Prevention of
Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) reporting requirements. This
includes reports of the following events and events that could
have resulted in:
1. Incidents including:
o
o
o
o
o

Death or serious injury to a person

Collision, grounding or loss of a vessel
Loss of a person from the vessel
Fire, structural failure, flooding or machinery failure
on board
Loss of cargo of a vessel

2. Dangers to navigation
3. Incidents involving failure of ships material handling
equipment or injury to any person when engaged in cargo
work, and
4. MARPOL reporting for harmful substances or marine
pollutant.

AMSA Forms:
Incident Alert and Reports (AMSA Form 18 and AMSA Form
19)
MARPOL for harmful substances or marine pollutant (AMSA
Form 197 or AMSA Form 196)

Disposal of garbage
Discharge of waste including cargo residues, whether or not
they are harmful to the marine environment, is prohibited
within the Great Barrier Reef and the Torres Strait. This is
because the nearest land boundary extends around the outer
edge of the Great Barrier Reef and the Torres Strait.
Discharges permitted under MARPOL must be measured

seaward of this boundary.

Current Fact Sheets:
Disposal of Solid Bulk Cargo Residues in Australian Waters

Charts and publications

Using adequate and up-to-date nautical charts and publications
is critical to safe ship operations and protection of the marine
environment.
Relying on unofficial charts demonstrates inadequate voyage
planning under a ship's safety management system, as well as
indicating a ship may be in an unfit state for the voyage, or
posing a threat to the environment.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) will detain
vessels that do not carry adequate and up-to-date nautical
charts. Please refer to this AMSA Media Release.
Current and official nautical charts and publications may be
obtained from the Australian Hydrographic Service.
Current Marine Notices:
2014/17 Sound navigational practices
2014/16 Official nautical charts
Media Release:
Appeals tribunal upholds AMSA ship detention decision

Fitness for duty

Ship operators and Masters have an obligation to make sure
the watchkeeping arrangements on board comply with
international convention requirements requirements and that
regulation 2.3 of the ILO MLC requirements are met for all
seafarers on board the vessel.
Port State Control inspections will include checks for
compliance with the records of work and rest, and other on
board documents. AMSA will issue deficiencies and
detentions due to identified issues with work hours. These
broadly fall within the following categories:

hours of rest not being complied with in port resulting in

watchkeeping personnel on duty for departures and first sea

watches not being adequately rested

records of hours of work/rest not being maintained
records of hours of work/rest not reflecting actual working
arrangements; and
deficiencies in the Safety Management System of the ship that
hinder compliance

Current Marine Notices:

2014/18 Maximum period for shipboard service for seafarers
2012/09 Fitness for duty
Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 Guide

Port State Control

Through Port State Control (PSC) inspections, AMSA
monitors and enforces compliance of ships in Australian
waters with internationally agreed standards for seaworthiness,
safety and pollution prevention.

Current Fact Sheets:

Port State Control in Australia

North East Shipping Management Plan

(NESMP)
With shipping movements in Australia's north east region
expected to grow, the North East Shipping Management Plan
(NESMP) has been jointly developed by Queensland and other
Australian Government agencies in conjunction with industry
and key interest groups.
The plan contains proposed measures that may be used to
manage future increases in shipping traffic, ensure the safety
of shipping and the prevention of ship sourced pollution and
other environmental impacts in the Great Barrier Reef, Torres
Strait and Coral Sea regions.

Collision with cetaceans

Collision with cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) is
an issue of growing concern. Ship strikes can increase the risk
of death and injury to animals and damage property.
Humpback whales are present in the Great Barrier Reef region

from May to September.

Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), all cetaceans are
protected in Australian Commonwealth waters (generally
between 3 and 200 nautical miles from the coastline). The
legislation applies to all vessels. If a vessel collides with a
cetacean in Australias Commonwealth waters, the person in
charge of the vessel is required by law to notify the
Department of the Environment. Information on reporting a
ship strike can be found at:
https://data.marinemammals.gov.au/report/shipstrike
Ship masters and watch-keeping officers are urged to:

maintain a good look out

warn other vessels in the vicinity, if whales have been sighted,
using all appropriate means of communication
consider reducing vessel speed in areas where whales have
been sighted; and
consider modest course alterations away from sightings.

AMSA MN 12 of 2011
IMO Circular MEPC.1/Circ.674