Maritime News September 2026

Australia · April to June 2026 quarter

Incident numbers fall 15 per cent, but the causes AMSA keeps publishing have not changed

Summary:

AMSA’s April to June incident report shows domestic commercial vessel incidents down 15 per cent year on year. A safety lesson published on 15 September, on a grounding caused by an uncertified crew member asleep at the helm, shows why the improvement should not be read as the problem being solved.

AMSA received 256 marine incident reports involving domestic commercial vessels in the April to June 2026 quarter, down from 302 in the same quarter of 2025. Of those, 35 were classified as serious and one as very serious.

The three incidents AMSA chose to highlight are worth reading together. A crew member fell through an open maintenance hatch while responding to a bilge alarm. A passenger vessel suffered mechanical propulsion failure and drifted onto a reef. A crew member fell overboard while removing a fender from a moving rigid inflatable boat. Two of the three are falls during routine work. AMSA’s recommendations are fatigue management controls inside the safety management system, safer access procedures during boarding and transfers, and a risk review that confirms controls exist in practice.

The safety lesson published on 15 September makes the same point more sharply. A fishing vessel grounded near a harbour entrance after an uncertified crew member fell asleep at the helm on the return leg, following a four-hour winch operation, while certified crew rested below decks and the vessel continued on autopilot. AMSA’s instruction is direct: operators must directly supervise uncertified crew performing deck work or watchkeeping duties, assess fatigue before assigning duties, maintain a proper lookout, and ensure the safety management system identifies and controls fatigue, collision and grounding risk.

Both sit squarely on the fatigue management and safety management system priorities AMSA named in its National Compliance Plan 2026-27, which commits the authority to at least 2,300 domestic commercial vessel inspections this financial year.

Worth doing now

• Confirm in writing that no uncertified crew member keeps a watch unsupervised, and check that the practice on board matches what the procedure says.
• Look at rostering after long, physically demanding operations specifically, since that is the pattern in the grounding, rather than at rest hours in the abstract.
• Review boarding, transfer and open-hatch practice on every vessel, given falls account for two of the three incidents AMSA highlighted.
• Check your safety management system names fatigue, collision and grounding as identified risks with specific controls against each, because that is the wording AMSA used.

Why it matters

A 15 per cent fall in reported incidents is welcome, but the incidents AMSA is choosing to publish are the ones it has committed to inspect against this year. An operator reading the headline number as reassurance, while carrying the same supervision and fatigue gaps, has drawn exactly the wrong conclusion from the report.

How Sea-Flux supports this

Sea-Flux records crew hours, certification status and safety management evidence together, so it is possible to see who is certified for what, whether rest was actually taken rather than merely rostered, and to produce the records behind both when an inspector asks.

Australia · From 14 September 2026

Certificates of Safety Training move online in myAMSA

Summary:

From 14 September, applications and revalidations for a Certificate of Safety Training can be completed through myAMSA, with the certificate issued digitally on approval rather than posted.

AMSA has extended myAMSA to cover the Certificate of Safety Training (CoST), the basic safety training certificate required for seafarers working on international vessels. Applications and revalidations that previously went by post can now be completed online, with the fee paid electronically and the certificate issued immediately on approval, ready to add to a digital wallet or print.

Applicants need a myID Digital ID at Standard strength or above, an AMSA ID if one has previously been issued, and their supporting documentation to hand. This follows the same pattern as near coastal ticket applications, which moved to myAMSA earlier.

Worth doing now

• If you have crew with a CoST falling due, point them at myAMSA rather than the paper route, since the turnaround is immediate rather than postal.
• Check crew have a myID at Standard strength before they need it, as setting one up at the point of application is the step most likely to cause delay.
• Decide where digital certificates will be stored centrally, rather than relying on each seafarer holding their own copy.

Why it matters

This removes postal turnaround from the critical path on a certificate that crew cannot sail internationally without. The benefit is only realised if the identity setup happens before the certificate is urgent, which is the part operators can influence and individuals usually leave late.

How Sea-Flux supports this

Sea-Flux tracks crew certificates with their expiry dates, so revalidations can be started well before they fall due and the issued certificate stored against the individual rather than in a personal inbox.

New Zealand · Closed 5pm, 25 September 2026

Package 3 submissions have closed, and the consultation phase of the 40-Series reform is over

Summary:

Submissions on Package 3 of Maritime NZ’s 40-Series reform closed at 5pm on 25 September 2026. It was the last of the three packages, so survey frequency, lifting gear and vessel access will now be decided and published rather than debated.

As set out in the August edition, Package 3 was the final consultation in Maritime NZ’s multi-year reform of the rules governing domestic commercial vessel design, construction and equipment. It covered survey and certification (Part 1A); lifting appliances, loose gear and working gear (Part 3A); accommodation, access, escape and personal safety (Part 3I); and navigation systems and equipment (Part 3K). Across the three packages, 15 existing rule parts are being reformed, with the resulting rules and maritime transport instruments intended to come into force together in 2028.

With submissions closed, the process moves to analysis and Ministerial agreement. No further general consultation round is planned on these topics, so for operators who did not submit, the next meaningful contact with these rules will be the published outcome.

That leaves a gap of roughly two years between the proposals and the requirements, and it is a more useful gap than it looks. The work worth doing is no longer lobbying but reading: knowing what was proposed on survey frequency tells you what your inspection burden may look like in 2028, and knowing what was proposed on accommodation, access and lifting gear tells you what a vessel designed or refitted against the current rules may need changing later.

Worth doing now

• Read the Snapshot of Proposed Changes even if you did not submit, since it is the quickest route to understanding what is likely coming.
• Look hardest at the survey and certification proposals, because survey frequency drives cost and downtime across a whole fleet rather than a single vessel.
• If you run passenger ferries, water taxis or tourism vessels, read the accessibility strand within Part 3I, which bears on vessel layout and access rather than paperwork.
• Raise the proposals with your surveyor or recognised organisation before committing to any newbuild or refit, since work designed against the current rules is what carries the cost if the requirements change.
• Watch for Maritime NZ’s summary of submissions, which is the next public step and the best early indication of which proposals are likely to move.

Why it matters

This was the final package of three, so the opportunity to influence these rules has passed. Decisions on survey frequency, lifting gear certification and vessel access will now be made and published, and an operator who has not read the proposals will meet them as requirements in 2028, when the available response is compliance rather than comment. Vessels built or refitted in the meantime against the current rules are the most exposed.

How Sea-Flux supports this

Sea-Flux keeps survey and certification dates, equipment checks and maintenance history in one place, so when the reformed rules are published, fleets can see immediately which vessels are affected and what evidence they already hold.

New Zealand · In force 21 September 2026

The rules package signed in August is now in force

Summary:

The Maritime Rules Amendments 2026 and Marine Protection Rules Amendments 2026 took effect on 21 September 2026. Nothing has changed since August’s edition, but the position is now live rather than pending.

The package reported in August as signed on 4 August has now come into force. Mandatory carbon-intensity requirements no longer apply to domestic-voyaging ships of 400 GT and above. Consideration of scrubber requirements remains paused pending IMO decisions, which have themselves slipped again (see Global, below). The fuel changeover provisions give the Director power to issue a Marine Protection Transport Instrument, which has not yet been published.

For most fleets under 400 GT there is still nothing to action. The reason to note the date is that certification and reporting obligations changed on 21 September, and anyone above the threshold who has not spoken to their surveyor may still be meeting a requirement that no longer exists.

Worth doing now

• If you operate domestic-voyaging ships of 400 GT and above, confirm with your surveyor what has actually changed on your certificates as of 21 September.
• Keep watching for the fuel changeover Marine Protection Transport Instrument, which is still to come.
• Treat the scrubber position as interim, not settled, given the IMO timetable has moved again.

Why it matters

The package removes requirements rather than adding them, which is the kind of change most easily missed. An operator who keeps reporting against a withdrawn requirement wastes effort; one who assumes the scrubber pause is permanent may be planning against a position that reverses.

How Sea-Flux supports this

Sea-Flux holds vessel particulars and certificates together, so operators can filter to the vessels sitting above a tonnage threshold and see exactly which certification and reporting obligations attach to them.

New Zealand · Starts 9 October 2026

New lifejacket rule starts on 9 October, and it covers recreational craft only

Summary:

The Maritime Transport (Lifejackets on Recreational Craft) Amendment Act takes effect on 9 October 2026, ahead of the summer season. It does not apply to commercial vessels, but operators will be asked about it.

The legislation requires everyone aboard a recreational craft of six metres or under to wear a properly fitted lifejacket while the vessel is underway. It passed its third reading in Parliament in early September and commences on 9 October 2026, timed to land before the peak summer boating season. Maritime NZ, police and harbourmasters will administer it, and Maritime NZ is publishing commencement information and practical guidance.

The commercial relevance is indirect. The requirement is drafted for recreational craft, so it does not reach commercial vessels or, on the face of the legislation, hire-and-drive operations. The reason it appears here is timing: the rule starts as the season begins, which is exactly when operators running charter, tourism or hire fleets will field questions from customers who have read the coverage and assume it applies to the boat they are stepping onto.

Worth doing before 9 October

• Treat this as a communications matter rather than a compliance one, unless your operation includes genuinely recreational craft.
• Brief customer-facing staff before the season starts, so they can say clearly what applies on your vessels, which is your own lifejacket policy rather than the new rule.
• Check Maritime NZ’s commencement information for any edge cases affecting hire-and-drive, since that is where the boundary with commercial operations will be drawn.

Why it matters

Getting this wrong in either direction is awkward. Telling customers a rule applies when it does not undermines confidence in the rest of your safety briefing, and being unable to answer at all looks worse. With commencement falling at the start of the season, the questions will arrive at your busiest point.

How Sea-Flux supports this

Sea-Flux keeps safety equipment records and vessel-level policies in one place, so what is carried and what is required on each vessel can be answered from the record rather than from memory.

New Zealand and the Pacific · Runs to June 2031

Pacific Maritime Safety Programme gets a fifth phase, funded through to June 2031

Summary:

Maritime NZ signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on 11 September 2026 to deliver a fifth phase of the Pacific Maritime Safety Programme, working with Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau and Tonga.

The Pacific Maritime Safety Programme (PMSP) was established in 2012 and is supported by MFAT’s International Development Cooperation programme. Maritime NZ has now signed a Memorandum of Understanding with MFAT to deliver a fifth phase running through to June 2031, with five participating member states: Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau and Tonga.

The renewed programme names four focus areas: community education and awareness, regulatory strengthening, safe operations, and maritime incident response. Sharyn Forsyth, Maritime NZ’s Deputy Chief Executive for Partnerships and Engagement, described it as an investment in long-term change that will help maritime authorities, operators and communities strengthen their ability to respond to emergencies, while reducing risk and improving safety practices.

For operators in the participating states, the detail that matters most is the term. A commitment running to June 2031 gives the regulatory strengthening and safe operations workstreams a planning horizon rather than an annual funding question, and programme funding is upstream of a great deal of what a small administration can actually do: rule development, surveyor training, incident response capability.

Maritime NZ says it is now working with partner countries to scope and implement the new phase. That scoping stage, rather than the signing, is the point at which operator input has the most influence on what the programme delivers locally.

Worth doing now

• If you operate in Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau or Tonga, contact your national maritime administration about the scoping stage, since what this phase delivers in your country is being decided during it.
• Pay particular attention to the regulatory strengthening workstream, as it is the one most likely to change the rules, certification and survey processes you work under.
• If your operation has gaps in incident response capability or crew training, raise them through your administration while scoping is open rather than once a workplan is fixed.
• Treat the 2031 horizon as a planning signal: a five-year commitment supports multi-year investment in training and systems in a way that annual funding does not.

Why it matters

A programme running to 2031 will shape regulatory priorities across the participating states for the rest of the decade, including the requirements operators are eventually held to. The scoping stage is a short window in which that direction can still be influenced, and it closes quietly rather than on an announced date.

How Sea-Flux supports this

Sea-Flux gives operators working under developing regulatory frameworks one place to hold certification, crew and maintenance records, so as requirements strengthen the evidence is already assembled rather than reconstructed to meet each new expectation.

UK · Closes 9pm, 30 September 2026

Navigation rules consultation closes 30 September, and it closes a bridge visibility gap for small passenger ships

Summary:

The MCA is consulting on the proposed Merchant Shipping (Safety of Navigation) Regulations 2027, which would replace the 2020 Regulations. Consultation opened on 2 September and closes at 9pm on 30 September 2026.

The proposed Regulations would replace the Merchant Shipping (Safety of Navigation) Regulations 2020, bringing in updates made to SOLAS since then and restructuring the domestic legislation to align with SOLAS Chapter V. Alongside the convention updates, the drafting redefines “length” as “length overall” for consistency with SOLAS, and modifies existing offences and penalties.

The change most likely to reach readers of this newsletter is narrower than any of that. The MCA is proposing to close a regulatory gap in bridge visibility standards for small domestic passenger ships, a category that currently falls between the provisions. For operators of passenger ferries, water taxis and tourism vessels, bridge visibility is a design and layout matter, not a procedural one, which makes it expensive to address after the fact and worth commenting on now.

The consultation window is four weeks, closing at 9pm on 30 September 2026.

Worth doing before 30 September

• If you operate small passenger vessels, read the bridge visibility proposal first, since it is the provision most likely to affect vessel layout rather than paperwork.
• Check how the redefinition of length as length overall would apply to vessels sitting close to a threshold in your fleet, as the change in measurement basis can move a vessel across a line.
• Respond using the consultation response form rather than free correspondence, since structured responses are what the analysis is built from.
• Flag the proposals to your certifying authority or surveyor, particularly if you have newbuild or refit work planned that would be designed against the current standard.

Why it matters

Bridge visibility is built into a vessel, not bolted on afterwards. If the standard is settled without input from the operators of the vessels it newly captures, the first time many will engage with it is during a survey or a refit, when the options are limited and expensive. The redefinition of length is the quieter risk, because it can change which requirements a vessel falls under without anything about the vessel changing.

How Sea-Flux supports this

Sea-Flux holds vessel particulars, including dimensions and certification, in one place, so operators can check quickly which vessels sit near a regulatory threshold and would be affected by a change in how length is measured.

Port state control · 1 September to 30 November 2026

The cargo securing campaign is now running, and the first detentions will start appearing

Summary:

The Paris and Tokyo MOU concentrated inspection campaign on cargo securing opened on 1 September and runs to 30 November. August’s edition covered the questionnaire; this is the reminder that it is now live.

The joint campaign is now under way across both MOU regions, running alongside routine port state control inspections, with each ship subject to one campaign inspection per MOU. As covered in August, the questionnaire runs to ten questions, seven of which may be grounds for detention, and it applies to ships carrying non-bulk cargoes and to bulk carriers and tankers carrying a Cargo Securing Manual. AMSA is participating over the same window.

The campaign runs until 30 November. For internationally trading vessels the practical change from August is that the window for preparation has closed and the window for being inspected has opened. For domestic operators, who are outside the regime, the campaign remains useful as a checklist: an out-of-date manual, worn lashing gear and records that cannot be produced cause cargo damage and claims regardless of who is asking.

Worth doing now

• If you trade internationally and have not yet checked that the Cargo Securing Manual on board is the approved version describing the vessel as currently fitted, do that before the next port call rather than before the campaign.
• Make sure the officers who will answer the ten questions have read them, since the inspection is a conversation rather than a document review.
• Bring securing equipment into the planned maintenance system so the inspection record sits with everything else, rather than being assembled on request.

Why it matters

Seven detainable questions means a vessel that would pass a routine inspection can still be held on cargo securing alone, and a detention during a three-month campaign window is a commercial problem as much as a compliance one. For domestic fleets the same gaps show up as cargo damage and delay rather than detention.

How Sea-Flux supports this

Sea-Flux keeps equipment inspection and maintenance history in one place, so cargo securing gear is tracked like any other equipment on board and the evidence is already assembled when someone asks for it.

Global · MEPC 85, 30 November to 3 December 2026

September talks end without agreement, and the net-zero decision now lands in December

Summary:

The IMO’s intersessional working group met in London from 1 to 4 September and closed without a new agreement, though two thirds of those who spoke backed a centralised fund and GHG pricing. The decision point is now MEPC 85, from 30 November to 3 December, with an extraordinary session on 4 December.

The Net-Zero Framework, a global fuel standard and emissions pricing mechanism in the form of amendments to MARPOL Annex VI, was approved at MEPC 83 in April 2025 but has not been adopted. Adoption was postponed at an extraordinary session in October 2025, and MEPC 84 in April 2026 continued discussions without setting a timeline.

The 22nd session of the intersessional working group on greenhouse gas emissions reduction ran from 1 to 4 September 2026 with close to 1,200 participants and ended without a new agreement. Reporting from the session records a significant majority, around two thirds of those who took the floor, continuing to back a centralised revenue collection mechanism and GHG pricing, while the fuel-intensity trajectory, compliance mechanisms and fund governance stayed open. Negotiations have now stalled across three consecutive meetings.

The calendar for the rest of the year is firmer than the outcome. ISWG-GHG 23 runs from 23 to 27 November 2026, MEPC 85 from 30 November to 3 December, and an extraordinary session is pencilled in for 4 December, subject to what happens at MEPC 85. Adoption is targeted at that December window.

For vessels under 500 GT the framework does not apply, and it is tempting to stop there. The reason it is worth a paragraph is visible in this month’s New Zealand section: Maritime NZ has paused consideration of scrubber requirements pending IMO decisions, and removed carbon-intensity requirements for domestic-voyaging ships of 400 GT and above. National regulators are shaping domestic rules around a decision that has not been taken, so a stall at the IMO becomes a pause in your own rulebook, and a December decision becomes a domestic rule change during the quietest weeks of the year.

Worth doing now

• Treat this as a watching brief rather than a compliance task if your fleet is under 500 GT and operating domestically.
• Put the week of 30 November in the diary if you operate any vessel at or above 400 GT or on international voyages, and watch what your national regulator does in the weeks after it, which is where the domestic consequence appears.
• If you have deferred a fuel or emissions related investment pending regulatory certainty, note that three consecutive meetings have now ended without it, so December may not deliver it either.

Why it matters

The risk is not the framework itself but the assumption that requirements paused or removed this year have gone permanently. Domestic rules paused pending an IMO decision are precisely the ones that return once it is made, and a decision taken in the first week of December gives operators very little run-up before the new year.

How Sea-Flux supports this

Sea-Flux keeps vessel particulars, fuel records and certificates in one place, so when emissions or fuel requirements change at national level, operators can identify which vessels fall inside the new thresholds without rebuilding the picture from scratch.