Safety issues

On 27 August 2025, the Port Authority of New South Wales (Port Authority) advised that it partially agreed with the ATSB’s recommendation associated with this safety issue and that it had taken the following action.

‘Port Authority has reviewed and where applicable, updated its internal incident response checklists and procedures. Port Authority maintains the view that it does not have the powers to play an enforcement role in issues of salvage and place of refuge which specifically rest with AMSA and the State Marine Pollution Controller. With regards to emergency towage, under Port Authority’s towage licence regime, an activation requirement for tug assets is in place noting this is subject to any powers of direction and noting that activation times for offshore emergency response is not immediate.’

The ATSB notes that the Port Authority partially agreed with the ATSB recommendation and its view as stated in its response. This suggests the Port Authority has a different understanding of its responsibilities for emergency response under its operating licence and relevant state plans than that described in those documents.

In addition, the Port Authority has not provided any detail of the action that it has taken to enable an assessment of the extent to which the safety issue may have been addressed. Therefore, the ATSB has asked the Port Authority to provide details of the action taken.

On 19 January 2026, the Port Authority of New South Wales (Port Authority) provided the following update.

The Port Authority and Transport for New South Wales (NSW Maritime) have worked on resolving the inconsistencies and ambiguities in the various emergency plans and documents that apply within NSW coastal waters for dealing with an incident such as that involving Portland Bay. Workshops have been held on 6 August, 17 September, 22 October and 17 December 2025. 

The Port Authority also reviewed NSW emergency plans related to emergency response outside port areas. These included the Port Safety Operating Licence (PSOL), Coastal Waters Marine Pollution Plan, State Emergency Management Plan and the memorandum of understanding between the Port Authority, Fire & Rescue NSW and NSW Maritime. The Port Authority shared its review findings with NSW Maritime to improve clarity regarding their respective obligations in various emergency plans through a clear delineation between obligations to ensure clarity in maritime emergencies that originate in NSW coastal waters.

A further workshop between the two agencies was planned for February 2026 to continue the work in this area.

The ATSB welcomes the Port Authority’s engagement with NSW Maritime to address this issue. However, this Port Authority update and NSW Maritime’s update of 20 January 2026 show that they have differing views about their respective obligations for the effective coordination of the state’s emergency response under the NSW Plan. The safety issue remains to be addressed and the ATSB will request the Port Authority to provide another update in July 2026.

On 24 July 2026, the Port Authority of New South Wales (Port Authority) provided the following update on the progress made to address the safety issues and the associated recommendation.

The Port Authority advised that it has been working with Transport for NSW (NSW Maritime) to resolve the inconsistencies and ambiguities across the plans and legislative instruments governing maritime emergencies in NSW coastal waters. The Port Authority has reviewed the NSW emergency plans related to response outside port areas, including its Port Safety Operating Licence (PSOL), NSW Coastal Waters Marine Pollution Plan, NSW State Emergency Management Plan and Memorandum of Understanding between the Port Authority, NSW Maritime and Fire and Rescue NSW. The findings of the review were shared with NSW Maritime in September 2025, and it has since participated in several workshops with NSW Maritime to improve clarity over their respective obligations for emergencies in coastal waters.

The inter-agency workshops have included discussions on roles, responsibilities and response arrangements for incidents occurring outside port limits to improve clarity for response coordination, towage, salvage and place of refuge decisions.  The Port Authority advised that a number of matters identified in the ATSB investigation report require agreement between the agencies on the interpretation of responsibilities under the relevant state plans and legislative framework. However, it also noted that agreement has not been reached on all matters and, in particular, there were differing views on aspects of coordination, including responsibilities for towage, salvage and place of refuge arrangements for incidents outside port limits. The Port Authority stated that it continues to seek clarification from NSW Maritime on these matters and remains committed to participating in further work to reach a common understanding.

The ATSB acknowledges the Port Authority’s continued engagement with NSW Maritime. However, this Port Authority update further highlights the differing views that each agency has about their respective obligations under the NSW Plan for the effective coordination of a response to a maritime emergency. As such, this safety issue remains to be addressed more than a year since the ATSB issued the associated recommendation to the Port Authority.