MAY 2009

IN THIS ISSUE

Please Select an Article to Read

• Climate change - Australia’s carbon emissions trading scheme
• New law to force personal business freight rates to be quoted ‘all in’
• New Australian Guidelines for the issue of Coasting Trade Licences & Permits
• Anti-fouling paints
• Ship arrest in Australia - a straightforward way to secure Maritime claims
• A move towards borderless trucking regulation
• Australia and New Zealand close the gap on legal process
• Timely reminder of obligations when a pollution discharge occurs
• Limitation of Liability in Maritime Claims

 

New Australian Guidelines for the issue of Coasting Trade Licences & Permits

The Australian Government recently introduced new Ministerial Guidelines for the granting of licences and permits for vessels, including foreign vessels engaged in Australian coastal shipping trade.

All vessels engaging in the Australian Coastal trade irrespective of flag and crew nationality, are required to be licensed to do so. The Guidelines however provide for a number of exceptions, including for passenger cruise lines other than those operating between Victoria and Tasmania. In addition, the Australian Government can grant permits to unlicensed vessels (such as foreign vessels) to engage in the Australian Coastal Shipping trade.

Licences

As with the 2007 guidelines licences are not restricted to Australian flagged, owned or crewed vessels. Licences are issued for 12 months ending on 30 June and renewable annually.

Licences are issued on the condition that:

• crew are paid Australian wages; and
• crew have access to the vessel’s library facilities.

It is an offence for a licensed ship to engage in coasting trade whilst receiving a subsidiary or bonus from a foreign government.

Coastal Permits

An unlicensed ship may be given a permit to carry either cargo or passengers on the Australian coast where:

• no licensed ship is available for the service; or
• the service carried out by the licensed ships is inadequate; and
• the Minister is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so.

Two types of coastal permits can be issued:

• Single Voyage Permits (SVP) exist for circumstances where there is a one-off unavailability of a suitable licensed ship. An SVP is issued for a particular vessel to carry specified cargo or passengers between particular ports on specific days.
• Continuing Voyage Permits (CVP) may be issued when suitable shipping is unavailable for an extended period of time. A CVP may be issued for up to three months.

Changes since the 2007 Guidelines
The principal changes are as follows:

• Guideline 57 - now requires that permit and licence fees are to be paid by credit card. Previously the form of payment was unspecified.
• Guideline 58 - allows for details of each permit issued and details contained in individual statements of cargo carried to be made available at the Department’s website. This is an increase in public availability of information concerning permits, as previously only statistics of permits issued were available.
• Guideline 61 - concerns the tolerance (plus or minus 10%) for alteration outside the stated type and volume of cargo or passengers for an SVP. There is now a new requirement that in situations where cargo or passengers are loaded outside these tolerances, further permits will not be issued without a satisfactory explanation in writing to the Department. This provides an incentive not to exceed issued tolerances.
• Guideline 73 - now requests that CVP applications are submitted using the Department’s online system.
• Guideline 78 - whereas previously there was no fee for amending a CVP there is now a fee of $400 for amending a CVP if the face of the permit is changed. There remains no fee if an amendment does not affect the face of the permit.

 

Written by Zoe Paterson, Solicitor