Have Your Say on Marine Safety
The National Marine Safety Committee (NMSC) has announced a November closing date for public comment on the draft National Standard for Administration of Marine Safety (NSAMS) for commercial vessel surveys.
'Outgoing CEO of NMSC, Maurene Horder encourages people to comment on the draft National Standard for Administration of Marine Safety (NSAMS) for commercial vessel surveys.'
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The main objective of NSAMS Section 4 - Surveys of Vessels is to achieve mutual recognition of acceptable marine safety standards and outcomes between states and territories. The new standard will replace the USL Code's Section 14.
NMSC's CEO Maurene Horder said the draft standard has enjoyed a lengthy public consultation process since its release in late 2005 because of the work being carried out simultaneously on the legislative framework for national marine administration.
"Achieving a national standard in this case is particularly challenging as there are several interpretations between marine agencies about when to survey, when to offer exemptions and how to regulate," Ms Horder said.
"A study undertaken in 2001 identified a significant growth in the volume and complexity of vessel transfers between states and territories.
She said the study rightly predicted that this growth will further compound the problems of non-conformity of survey certificates.
"The new standard needs to take a fresh approach to the survey of commercial vessels. Options in the draft standard include less-prescriptive or equivalent solutions, labelling to indicate a vessel is in survey and incentives to owners to adopt a 'safety first' culture.
"Overall, the new standard is aiming for new survey requirements which in turn should lead to greater co-ordination and mutual recognition between states".
The draft standard's accompanying Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) is also out for public comment.
Have Your Say
The public comment period closes on Friday 7 November 2008. A stakeholder Reference Group will meet soon after to consolidate comments and to guide further development of the standard.
To obtain a copy of the draft NSAMS Survey of Vessels standard and its accompanying RIS, please contact the NMSC Secretariat on Tel: (02) 9247 2124 or visit www.nmsc.gov.au.
by NMSC 
rose bay, NSW
