INDONESIAN TUNA BOAT
APPREHENDED
An Indonesian fishing
vessel loaded with
tuna was apprehended
approximately five
nautical miles inside
the Australian Fishing
Zone of the WA coast in
February.
Maritime Border
Command (MBC), together
with the Australian
Fisheries Management
Authority (AFMA),
apprehended the vessel
approximately 390nm of
the West Australian coast
after it was detected byHMAS Maitland northwest
of Broome on February 16,
2018.
HMAS Maitland
subsequently intercepted
the vessel and Royal
Australian Navy and
AFMA personnel boarded
the vessel. They located 15
crew, 1110kg of yellowfin
tuna and 200 live bait fish.
The matter is now the
subject of an investigation
by AFMA into possible
breaches of Australian
fisheries laws.AMSA TRYING TO SIMPLIFY VESSEL SURVEY REGIME
Following public
consultation on options for
a future approach to the
domestic commercial vessel
survey regime, AMSA has
released the final Regulation
Impact Statement (RIS)-
Survey under the National
System for Domestic
Commercial Vessels.
The RIS identifies
preferred changes to vessel
survey which would see
regulations simplified and
survey requirements better
aligned with risk.
The proposed survey
reforms detailed in the RIS
include some benefits for
industry, including aligningsurvey frequency on an
individual vessel basis;
greater flexibility to reduce
the number of out-of-water
surveys required where risks
are mitigated through other
measures; and allowing
surveys to be more easily
aligned with other vessel
maintenance activities.
Other changes in the RIS
include:- An increase in the
proportion of the fleet
subject to a ‘2 in 5 year’
(medium frequency)
survey regime. - A decrease in the
proportion of the fleet
subject to ‘5 in 5 year’
(high frequency) survey
requirements, with all
vessels remaining in
annual survey moving to a
‘4 in 5 year’ survey regime.- Increasing the length
limit for the non-survey
category from under 7.5m
to under 12m for eligible
vessels. - From 2020, increasing
the length limit at which
point a vessel must be
built, constructed and
maintained in Class from
35m to 45m for eligible
vessels. - Permitting eligible vessels
less than 65m to move into
National System periodic
survey provided they
have undergone an initial
survey and certification by
a Classification Society.- Allowing greater flexibility
in survey timing to
ensure that other vessel
maintenance activities can
be aligned with surveys.
The next step is to capture
the changes in Marine Order
503 (Certificates of survey).
The revised marine order
will be open for public
consultation during April
and May 2018.
Following consultation,
new survey arrangements
would commence on July 1,
New Hunter
arrives for NPF
Northern Prawn Fishery’s
new prawn trawler, Austral
Hunter, arrived in Cairns in
January.
Oceantech, the Adelaide-
based naval architecture
firm run by Jon Kemp,
designed the vessel which
has an overall length of
29.98m, beam of 8.2m,
depth of 3.99m and draft
of 3.5m. Displacement is
approximately 430 tonnes.
With some 194 cubic
metres of freezer hold space
and more than 118,000 litres
of fuel, the trawler suits
extended fishing operations.
Catch bin capacity is 16
tonnes.
A 634kW Cummins K38-M
provides a speed of 10kts.
Chantier Naval de l’Ocean
Indien (CNOI) of Port Louis,
Mauritius, built the vessel
having has undertaken a
range of works for Austral in
the past. These include the
significant lengthening of the
company’s longline/trapping
factory vessel Austral
Leader II from 52m to 59.8m
between November 2011 and
March 2012.
While the vessel was
constructed overseas key
refrigeration, electrical,
electronic and hydraulic
systems were completed by
the Australian companies.tradeboats.com.au 237