Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is responsible, on behalf of the Commonwealth Government of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, for the regulation and safety oversight of Australia's shipping fleet and management of Australia's international maritime obligations

International Maritime Organization

The International Maritime Organization , formerly known as the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization , was established in Geneva in 1948, and came into force ten years later, meeting for the first time in 1959...

. AMSA is funded largely through levies on the shipping industry

Shipping

Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...

.

Marine safety activities by AMSA:

1. the provision, operation and maintenance of a network of marine aids to navigation, for example, lighthouse
   Lighthouse
   A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
   
   s;
2. ensuring the seaworthiness and safe operation of Australian and foreign vessels in Australian waters;
3. administering the certification of seafarers;
4. the provision of a maritime distress and safety communications network;
5. the operation of Australia's Rescue Coordination Centre and coordination of search and rescue operations for civilian aircraft and vessels in distress; and
6. the development of a maritime safety commercial vessel legislative framework and operating system.

AMSA aims to protect the marine environment by:

1. administering programs to prevent and respond to the threat of ship-sourced marine pollution; and
2. managing Australia's National Plan to combat pollution of the sea by oil
   Oil spill
   An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is mostly used to describe marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters...
   
    and other noxious and hazardous substances.

A current major AMSA project is the conduct of a Rewrite of the Navigation Act 1912, AMSA's governing statute.

See also

• Coast Guard
  Coast guard
  A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...
  
  
• Australia
  Australia
  Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
  
   - two rival privately run volunteer Coast Guard organizations exist & one government service:
  • Coast Guards of Australia
  • Australian aerial patrol
    Australian aerial patrol
    The Australian Aerial Patrol conducts fixed wing shark patrols on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. The patrol was created in 1957 and is based at the Illawarra Regional Airport....
    
    

External links

• Australian Maritime Safety Authority website