Masters of Australian registered vessels, or of foreign flag
vessels in Australian waters and other 'responsible persons' are
obliged, under the Transport Safety Investigation Act and
Regulations 2003, to report any accident (or 'immediately
reportable matter') as soon as practicable to the ATSB, by the
quickest means possible. Recognising the practical difficulties of
reporting to a number of separate authorities, the Regulations
consider a report to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority
(AMSA), or to AusSAR in Canberra, to be a report to the ATSB,
although the ATSB is a separate organisation. On receipt of a
report of an incident, ATSB staff, who are on 24 hour call,
decide(s) what action will be taken.
Depending on the type and severity of the incident, this may
be:
- An investigation carried out by an ATSB or specially appointed
investigator, or
- More information sought from the owner, employer or other body,
or
- No further action taken
Incidents should be notified to AMSA using
forms AMSA 18 and AMSA 19. These can be downloaded from the Shipping Industry Forms
page of the AMSA website.
AMSA forwards copies of the completed forms to us and these meet
ATSB reporting requirements.