Division 3 Survey certificates and other requirements for commercial vessels

53   Vessels to which this Division applies

(1)  This Division applies to commercial vessels operating in State waters.

(2)  This Division extends to:

(a)  a commercial vessel that is an Australian fishing vessel or a pleasure craft while it is operating outside State waters, and

(b)  any other commercial vessel while it is operating outside State waters but only if it is proceeding on a voyage that is not an overseas or interstate voyage.

53A   Offence to operate commercial vessel not complying with certain requirements

(1)  The owner of a commercial vessel must not operate the vessel unless:

(a)  the vessel complies with the requirements prescribed by the regulations relating to the design, construction or equipment of any such vessel, and

(b)  if required by the regulations, has a survey certificate under this Act.

Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units.

(2)  The master of a commercial vessel must not operate the vessel unless:

(a)  the vessel complies with the requirements prescribed by the regulations relating to the design, construction or equipment of any such vessel, and

(b)  if required by the regulations, has a survey certificate under this Act.

Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units.

(3)  It is a defence to a prosecution under subsection (2) if the master establishes that he or she did not have any reasonable cause to believe that:

(a)  the vessel did not comply with the requirements referred to in subsection (2) (a) or did not have a survey certificate under this Act, as the case may be, or

(b)  any condition of an exemption granted in respect of the vessel for the purposes of this section was not being complied with at the relevant time.

Note. Section 139 (4) provides that an exemption granted by the regulations or by order of the Minister does not apply during any period that any condition to which the exemption is subject is not complied with.

(4)  The regulations may exempt any class of vessels from any of the requirements of subsections (1) and (2).

(5)  The Minister may exempt a vessel from any of the requirements of subsections (1) and (2) by order in writing given to the owner or master of the vessel or by a condition of the vessel’s registration under this Act.

Note. A survey certificate for a vessel is a marine safety licence—Part 4 deals with the grant of, and other matters relating to, any such licence. A contravention of the conditions of such a licence by the holder is an offence—see section 32.

54   Grant of survey certificate and survey schedule for commercial vessels

(1)  A survey certificate is not to be granted for a vessel unless the Minister is satisfied that the vessel complies with relevant requirements as to design, construction and equipment.

(2)  (Repealed)

(3)  The Minister is to issue a survey schedule with a survey certificate and require the vessel, as a condition of the survey certificate, to be inspected in accordance with that schedule to ensure that it continues to comply with relevant requirements and to be safe to operate.

55   (Repealed)

56   Regulations relating to commercial vessels—construction, survey and other matters

The regulations may make provision for or with respect to the following:

(a)  the construction, design, equipment, deck or load lines, survey, identification of and inspection of, and any other matter relating to, commercial vessels to which this Division applies,

(b)  the manner in which any matter referred to in paragraph (a) is to be determined,

(c)  applications for determinations or approvals under this Act in respect of a matter referred to in paragraph (a), and appeals and reviews of decisions made in respect of such applications (including enabling a person to apply for a review of any such decision to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal),

(d)  fees in relation to any such application, appeal or review.