Recommendation Date
Recipient Name
MNZ
Text
On 27 May 2021 the Commission recommended that Maritime New Zealand, when assessing or auditing operator safety systems for fishing vessels, review the adequacy of watchkeeping training programmes for upskilling unqualified deckhands to a level that meets good industry practice and complies with the requirements of Maritime Rules Part 31.
Reply Text
On 16 June 2021, Maritime New Zealand replied:
We agree with this recommendation.
The majority of fishing vessels to which this recommendation applies are covered by mandatory safety systems such as the Maritime Operator Safety System (MOSS) under Maritime Rules Part 19. Fishing vessels under 6m may instead have Safe Operating Plans (SOP) under Maritime Rules Part 40D.
Maritime NZ has a rigorous entry-control process for new commercial operators entering the MOSS and SOP safety systems, including obtaining evidence and undertaking a site visit to ensure, amongst other safety-critical issues, that fishing vessels are manned by appropriately trained and qualified masters and crew as required by Maritime Rules Part 31.
Ongoing compliance, under both safety systems, is assured through regular statutory audits of operators under section 54 of the Maritime Transport Act 1994 as well as other focussed inspections and investigations as needed.
In response to this recommendation from the Commission, Maritime NZ will consider how to incorporate this recommendation into our audit processes within the MOSS and SOP safety systems. Specifically, we will consider implementing a quality assurance process to specifically monitor operators’ watchkeeping training programmes for unqualified deckhands. We will aim to provide an update on our response to this recommendation in the first half of 2022.
We agree with this recommendation.
The majority of fishing vessels to which this recommendation applies are covered by mandatory safety systems such as the Maritime Operator Safety System (MOSS) under Maritime Rules Part 19. Fishing vessels under 6m may instead have Safe Operating Plans (SOP) under Maritime Rules Part 40D.
Maritime NZ has a rigorous entry-control process for new commercial operators entering the MOSS and SOP safety systems, including obtaining evidence and undertaking a site visit to ensure, amongst other safety-critical issues, that fishing vessels are manned by appropriately trained and qualified masters and crew as required by Maritime Rules Part 31.
Ongoing compliance, under both safety systems, is assured through regular statutory audits of operators under section 54 of the Maritime Transport Act 1994 as well as other focussed inspections and investigations as needed.
In response to this recommendation from the Commission, Maritime NZ will consider how to incorporate this recommendation into our audit processes within the MOSS and SOP safety systems. Specifically, we will consider implementing a quality assurance process to specifically monitor operators’ watchkeeping training programmes for unqualified deckhands. We will aim to provide an update on our response to this recommendation in the first half of 2022.
Related Investigation(s)