Report a boat accident, incident or death

Recreational and commercial vessel operators in the Northern Territory (NT) must report all accidents or incidents on the water as soon as possible under the law.

This includes all vessels whose next port of call is at a port or place in the NT.

If you don't report you could face a penalty.

When to a report an accident or incident

The master or person in charge of the vessel (recreational or commercial) must make a report if the vessel has been involved in an accident or incident in NT waters that results in:

• injury (requiring medical treatment), death or loss of a person from a vessel
• an event that could have resulted in the injury, death or loss of a person from a vessel, or a vessel becoming disabled
• collision with another vessel
• a near collision miss with a vessel, wreck or other object
• a fire on board
• a vessel sinking, grounding, flooding or capsizing
• damage which renders or is likely to render the vessel unsafe
• loss of stability of the vessel which affects the safety of the vessel
• danger from the actions of another boat such as passing too close or a near collision
• fouling or damage to a pipeline, submarine cable or an aid to navigation
• an accident in which the sea is polluted by oil or a noxious substance either by your boat or another vessel
  • you must report it to the NT Environment Protection Authority by email to pollution@nt.gov.au and Marine Safety.

To have a matter referred to the Water Police, call NT Police assistance on 131 444.

To find out more, read the form below or check the following:

• Marine Act 1981
• Port Management Regulations 2015
• Marine Pollution Act 1999
• Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Act 2012 (Commonwealth).

How to report an accident or incident

To report an accident or incident, follow these steps.

Recreational vessel operators

Step 1. Fill in the report of a recreational vessel involved in a marine incident.

Report of recreational vessel involved in a marine incident PDF (325.5 KB)
Report of recreational vessel involved in a marine incident DOCX (91.8 KB)

Step 2. Email the form to the Marine Safety Branch at marinesafety@nt.gov.au.

Commercial vessel operators

If you are a commercial vessel operator, you must:

• go to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) website and fill in the online report form
  • you will also need to email a copy of the form to marinesafety@nt.gov.au
• notify AMSA within four hours of becoming aware of the accident or dangerous occurrence.

Read more information on incident reporting, when to report an incident and general incident reporting for commercial vessels on the AMSA website.

How to report a death

You must call NT Police on 000 or 131 444 to report a death.

You must also notify Marine Safety NT of a death or serious injury to a person on your boat.

Call 08 8924 7100 or email marinesafety@nt.gov.au.

If you are a commercial vessel operator, you must also report the death to AMSA under the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Act 2012.

If you don't report a death you could face a penalty.