Emergency situations
Accident / Incident reporting
When an accident results in serious injury or death, or the vessel has been damaged enough to make it unseaworthy or unsafe, the owner or skipper must report full particulars of the accident or fire to the Department within seven days. You can pick up a special form from the Department’s offices, or phone (08) 9216 8999 for one to be sent to you or download it from the form section of our website.
Marine safety complaints (speeding, skiing etc.)
Marine safety complaints (speeding, skiing etc) may be made to the State Marine Operations Centre on telephone 9431 1000. The Centre is available between 8.30am and 4.00 pm Monday to Sunday. Where required, a written complaint may be forwarded to the Marine Safety Investigations Unit by downloading the Marine Safety Complaint Report from the form section of our website.
Types of emergency – appropriate response
Well-prepared boaters seldom have big problems at sea. These are the people who are ready to cope with the unexpected and usually avoid emergencies. But accidents still occur to the most thoughtful of people, and you need to be ready to deal with them. Skippers should have knowledge of how to prevent and deal with some of the more common boating emergencies. Find out more
Assisting others
When you are not actually using your radio, you are required to keep it tuned either to the distress frequency or Sea Rescue’s working frequency. This is because you must stay available to assist others. It is a legal obligation to offer help if you hear a radio distress call or see distress signals or a burning vessel.
The traditions of the sea also say that you should respond to urgency radio calls or to other requests for assistance that fall outside the distress category. You are not obliged to offer a tow to other vessels. You can offer to stand by until Sea Rescue turns up.
Leadership
The safety equipment you have to carry, and the logical extras, will go a long way towards relieving most problems. But you need thought and action as well. A prime requirement is for the skipper to be the skipper – to set an example by getting on with the job decisively and logically.
Send distress signal
Decide as quickly as possible if your emergency needs outside help, then waste no time asking for it. The radio is almost always the best means, but a flare or waving arms might be appropriate for a nearby vessel. The flashing of a mirror or dedicated heliograph can attract the attention of a vessel or aircraft within visible range. Find out more
Assess the situation
- Assess the situation and make your passengers as safe as possible. This will almost certainly include putting on life jackets, and may involve moving people to a different part of the vessel, or even preparing them to abandon the boat.
- Check to make sure there is no danger of the emergency getting worse, for instance, a parted fuel line assisting the start of a fire.
- Check what informal means you have of easing the emergency. As an extreme example, on more than one flooding boat, skippers have put cooling water intakes into the bilge and used the engine itself as an extra pump.
Find out more visit the Emergencies, accidents and incidents section of the website
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