Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994

This Act may be cited as the Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994.

s 2 om R3 (see RA s 37)

The overall primary objective of this Act is, consistent with the objectives of the Transport Planning and Coordination Act 1994, to provide a system that achieves an appropriate balance between—

regulating the maritime industry to ensure marine safety; and

enabling the effectiveness and efficiency of the Queensland maritime industry to be further developed.

In particular, the objectives of this Act are—

to allow the Government to have a strategic overview of marine safety and related marine operational issues; and

to establish a system under which—

marine safety and related marine operational issues can be effectively planned and efficiently managed; and

influence can be exercised over marine safety and related marine operational issues in a way that contributes to overall transport efficiency; and

account is taken of the need to provide adequate levels of safety with an appropriate balance between safety and cost.

These objectives are to be achieved for Queensland regulated ships mainly by—

imposing general safety obligations to ensure seaworthiness and other aspects of marine safety; and

allowing a general safety obligation to be discharged by complying with relevant standards or in other appropriate ways chosen by the person on whom the obligation is imposed.

In particular, a Queensland regulated ship may be taken to sufficiently comply with a general safety obligation even though a competent person has not issued a survey report for the ship.

A further objective of this Act is to manage the operation and activities of ships.

The objectives of the Act, and how they are achieved, are further explained in part 3.

The dictionary in schedule 1 defines particular words used in this Act.

s 5 amd 2006 No. 21 s 48

om 2016 No. 3 s 5

A ship is connected with Queensland if—

it is registered under the Shipping Registration Act 1981 (Cwlth) with a home port in Queensland; or

it is, or is required to be, registered or licensed under this or another Act; or

it is owned or chartered by—

an individual whose place of residence, or principal place of residence, is in Queensland; or

a person whose place of business, or principal place of business, is in Queensland; or

a person whose principal place of business for managing the ship’s operations is in Queensland; or

it is a ship declared by regulation to be a ship connected with Queensland.

The master of a ship is the person having command or charge of the ship.

A pilot having the conduct of a ship, but not belonging to the ship, is not the master of the ship.

An owner of a ship operates the ship if the owner operates the ship or causes or allows it to be operated by someone else.

The owner of a ship is the person who owns the ship, whether or not—

the person is registered as the ship’s owner under this Act or a law of another jurisdiction; or

for a ship that is a domestic commercial vessel—the person holds a certificate of operation for the ship under the national law.

The owner of a ship includes a person who—

exercises, or purports to exercise, powers of the owner; and

operates the ship or causes or allows it to be operated by someone else.

Example 1—

If a ship’s owner lives outside Queensland, and the owner appoints an agent in Queensland to exercise the owner’s powers and operate the ship, the agent is an owner of the ship.

Example 2—

If, under a charter, a person has exclusive possession of a ship and may operate the ship, the person is an owner of the ship.

Example 3—

If a bank becomes the mortgagee in possession of a ship and operates it, the bank is an owner of the ship.

A ship is any kind of boat or other vessel used, or intended to be used, in navigation by water or for any other purpose on water.

Without limiting subsection (1), a ship includes a boat or other vessel—

whatever its size; and

however it is propelled or moved; and

whether it is on land or in water.

A ship includes, for example—

a barge, lighter or other floating vessel; and

a hovercraft or other surface effect craft.

A ship does not include a vessel declared by regulation not to be a ship.

A regulation may provide that a ship includes an aircraft when it is on water or is taking off, or landing on, water.

Except as provided by a regulation under subsection (5), a ship does not include an aircraft.

A reference to a ship includes the ship’s equipment.

A Queensland regulated ship is—

a recreational ship; or

an other Queensland regulated ship.

A recreational ship is—

a ship used only for private recreation; or

a tender to a ship mentioned in paragraph (a).

A regulation may prescribe circumstances in which a ship may be taken to be used only for private recreation.