Recently a most successful game fishing competition featured a large fleet of participants. This is one of four events throughout the year held by game fishing clubs. St Helens Marine Rescue carried out the radio support for this event. Starting in the early hours of the morning each vessel logged on with our radio operator, then on the hour reported their position. This is an essential part of the safety management system for the event. The Burns Bay carpark tells the story.

The weather was absolutely fabulous at the Burns Bay boat ramp. Standing room only as the radio operator witnessed multiple launchings via our Burns Bay camera.

We also have a webcam where Burns Bay can be viewed by the public via You Tube. This can be found by following these steps:

Step 1 In your internet browser go to You Tube.

Step 2 In the You Tube search engine, request Burns Bay Webcam.

Step 3 Most importantly click on the icon LIVE NOW

2020 Annual General Meeting

Sunday 27th of September

Commencing at 11:00 am

At the Base Station.

All commercial operators in the North east are invited to the AMSA Safety Management System (SMS) Workshop commencing at 10:00 am on the 5th of November.

Please find attached a flyer for the upcoming Safety Management System workshops in Tasmania.

I encourage you to come along to learn about your SMS obligations and how to improve the safety of your operation.

To date, AMSA has taken a more educative approach to safety management system (SMS) compliance but is now issuing deficiencies and compliance notices where operators do not have an SMS, or their SMS does not meet AMSA’s requirements.

Common issues that our Marine Inspectors come across include:

·        lack of, or poor risk assessments,

·        operators not following their SMS,

·        lack of evidence of crew training and induction,

·        lack of regular SMS review,

·        and even a lack of SMS altogether (you can expect a Prohibition Notice if this is found for your operation)

These workshops will cover the benefits of having a successful SMS for your operation, how you can improve your SMS, as well as what AMSA looks for when checking your SMS. Whilst the workshops focus more on Class 3 operators, all operators and crew are welcome. If you have someone such as a partner or friend who helps you with your SMS please encourage them to attend also.

Go to www.amsa.gov.au/sms-workshops-registration to register your interest to attend a workshop or ring AMSA Connect 1800 627 484.