Independent safety issue investigation into Queensland Coastal Pilotage

Shipping and traffic density

In 2010, more than 4,700 piloted ships transited the GBR and Torres Strait en route to destinations in Australia and overseas. Since 1993, the number of piloted ships has approximately doubled from an annual average of about 2,300. Shipping traffic transiting the general GBR area is expected to continue increasing as a number of Queensland’s ports increase export capacity. Major expansions are under way, or planned, for Gladstone, Port Alma, Hay Point, Abbot Point and Weipa. Shipping traffic in the southern part of the GBR area is expected to double over the 10 years to 2020.²⁰ A proportion of that increased traffic will transit the compulsory coastal pilotage areas and piloted traffic in the region will probably increase at a faster rate than seen since 1993.

Between July 1993 and February 2009, nine groundings and five collisions have occurred during a coastal pilotage (four collisions involved a fishing vessel). This equates to 14 such incidents and investigation reports have been published for all but one of them (Appendix B refers).²¹ The findings of the investigations indicate that every incident was the result of inadequate management of the pilotage and/or the navigation of the ships involved, rather than circumstances beyond the control of the pilot or crew.

Protective measures

Coastal pilotage services in the GBR and Torres Strait, in one form or another, have been available and well used by most large ships since the late nineteenth century. In 1987, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) first recommended that ships of 100 m or more in length and all types of loaded tankers, irrespective of size, use coastal pilotage services when transiting the Torres Strait, the GBR area north of Cairns and the Hydrographers Passage off Mackay.

In 1990, the IMO declared the GBR as the first ever particularly sensitive sea area (PSSA) recognising that special measures were necessary to protect its unique and pristine environment from ship sourced pollution. In 1991, Australia introduced compulsory pilotage for ships of 70 m or more in length (and all type/size of loaded tankers) in the GBR area north of Cairns and the Hydrographers Passage, both of which lie inside the GBR PSSA. In 2006, the compulsory pilotage regime was extended to include the Torres Strait following its own recognition as a PSSA.

The regime of compulsory coastal pilotage has ensured that ships have engaged a pilot where required. Since pilotage in the Torres Strait was made compulsory in 2006, all ships required to use pilotage services to transit the strait have engaged pilots.²² Elsewhere in the GBR, it has been very rare for a ship to not comply with compulsory coastal pilotage requirements.²³ A number of AMSA marine notices provide guidance to masters and owners of ships intending to transit the area.²⁴

To complement coastal pilotage and other navigational safety measures, a coastal vessel traffic service known as the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait Vessel Traffic Service (REEFVTS) was introduced in 2004. The service combined the existing ship reporting system for the area (established in 1996) with electronic traffic monitoring and surveillance systems. The objective of REEFVTS is to reduce the risk of an incident and to provide a quick, effective response to an incident by accurately tracking and interacting with shipping.

In addition, the GBR region is covered with a comprehensive network of aids to navigation. These include traditional aids such as buoys, beacons and lighthouses and electronic aids, including the automatic identification system (AIS) for ships, radar beacons, real-time transmitting tide gauges, and accuracy and integrity enhancing services for shipboard global positioning system (GPS) units.

There are also ship routing measures comprising recommended tracks, preferred routes and two-way routes for most of the GBR and Torres Strait. These routing measures are shown on a comprehensive set of appropriately scaled paper and electronic navigational charts for the area. The charts are generally based on recent and reliable survey data and include information in relation to the limits and/or boundaries of designated shipping areas, marine parks and prohibited zones.

While protecting the GBR environment has long been a priority, a United Nations report in 2012 re-focused the attention of the international and Australian community on the risks to its environment.²⁵ The report documented ‘extreme concern’ over increased developments, including ports and infrastructure, in and around the GBR. Recommendations included that Australia sustain and increase efforts and resources to conserve the GBR environment, and that new developments outside existing long-established major port areas not be permitted.

Shipping routes

The main shipping routes in the Torres Strait and GBR comprise the western approaches to the strait and the Prince of Wales (PoW) Channel, the Great North East Channel, the Inner Route of the GBR (Inner Route) and the Hydrographers Passage (Figure 1). The route through the Coral Sea, outside the GBR, is known as the Outer Route.

The Prince of Wales Channel is the only navigable channel in the Torres Strait for large ships. The channel allows ships with a maximum draught²⁶ of 12.2 m safe passage between the Arafura and Coral Seas. Its eastern entrance connects with both the Great North East Channel and the Inner Route. The Great North East Channel is used either by ships transiting the Torres Strait en route to or from destinations east of Australia or to call at Australian ports via the Outer Route.

The Inner Route is mainly used by ships en route to and from ports in Queensland and further south along the east coast of Australia. This route connects with the Prince of Wales Channel in the Torres Strait. The route’s southern part leads through the Capricorn Channel. A number of passages (such as the Hydrographers, Palm and Grafton Passages) connect the Inner Route to the Coral Sea.

The Hydrographers Passage is used by most ships accessing ports in the Mackay area. Some large ships with draughts of about 18 m regularly use this passage. The Whitsunday Group of islands, located north of Mackay, includes anchorages and routes which are mainly used by passenger ships.

Compulsory pilotage area

As noted in section 1.1.1, pilotage is compulsory for all ships of 70 m or more in length and all types of loaded tankers, irrespective of size, when transiting the Torres Strait and certain parts of the GBR. Coastal pilots are generally also available for parts of the GBR where pilotage is not compulsory.

Torres Strait including the Great North East Channel

The Torres Strait compulsory pilotage area extends from the western entrance of the strait near Booby Island to Dalrymple Island in the Great North East Channel, near its eastern entrance (Figure 2). The pilotage area covers the waters north of latitude 10º41’S, which lies along the tip of Cape York, and includes the islands in the Torres Strait, most of which are Australian territory.

Figure 2: Section of navigational chart Aus 4603 from Torres Strait to Cairns

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