Industry Areas: Admiralty & Maritime - Guides
Admiralty & Maritime
8. Maritime Collisions
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Last updated: 30 Mar 2015
- Under Australia’s collision regulations every ship owner or operator must make a careful determination of whether there is a potential risk of collision. As an owner or operator of a ship you have a positive duty to avoid any collision in the interests of good seamanship. A positive duty means a duty to take action.
- Should a person’s life be lost or they sustain personal injuries while on board your ship and it is both the fault of your vessel and another vessel jointly then your liability will be apportioned with that of the other owner. The same principle applies to loss or damage of freight or property on board the ship.
- In the situation where two ships collide the person who is in charge of the ship has a duty to provide help to the other ship. Should you fail to provide such assistance you may be found guilty of an offence by a court with admiralty jurisdiction.
- Loss of profit resulting from a collision may also be recovered.
- A collision will only be regarded as an inevitable accident in circumstances where you could not have avoided it with due care, caution and ordinary piloting skill.
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