Page 29: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 2016)

ccording to the Australian Reef Pilots (ARP), Australia is now the fourth biggest cruise market in the world. Part of the boom in cruising has to do with more specialty cruise ships coming to the region. The smaller size cruise ship segment seems purpose-designed to transit the remote waters of the Kimberley coast. However, larger-vessel cruise companies are now expressing interest in touring this remote and rugged north-west region as well as the Great Barrier Reef. In fact, the number of cruise ships using ARP’s services has increased by more than 89 percent since 2010.

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Last year, ARP saw record demand for Flattery and 2 Mile Opening as well as The POSMS has since been augment- The one-day internal training gives an pilots between Broome and Darwin, and other special cruise ship corridors, ARP ed by a training framework which out- overall induction to the Safety Manage- expects 2016-17 will see the Kimberley also provides advisory services through lines how it is introduced and taught to ment System and covers eight areas such coast enter the mainstream market. non-mandated pilotage areas. new and existing pilots. This makes ARP as the philosophy of safety management

In Northern Australia’s Great Barrier “Many of those areas outside of our the ? rst pilotage company in Australia to systems, a pilot’s role and obligation in

Reef, the draft limit in the Inner Route compulsory pilotage areas are quite nav- have a fully integrated on-the-job train- coastal pilotage, Great Barrier Marine – the passage that lies between the main- igationally demanding with strong tidal ing framework for its safety manage- Park environmental information, weath- land and the outer reef between Cairns streams, currents, and especially in the ment system. Training involves on board er and tidal information and marine in- and Cape York – is 12.2 meters (40 feet). Kimberleys, which have a huge range of real-life experiences with a licenced cident reporting and investigations. The

The maximum size of cruise ships that tides to 13 meters,” explains Capt. Perry. pilot and mentor pilots, as well as time Standard operating procedures section normally transit the area is approximate- “We offer this specialized knowledge with bridge simulators. The course is covers 10 sub-topics, including com- ly 265 meters (869 feet), which carry of cruising grounds around Australia, only for ARP pilots and is based on their pulsory pilotage limits, navigation chart about 2,100 passengers. So passages not just the Barrier Reef. Some current procedures and systems. requirements, go/no-go decisions, risk like the Torres Strait can only be plied at surveys and charts are based on informa- certain times and at restricted speeds to tion that goes back to the 19th century, control squat. “It’s also necessary to pay so additional information we can supply

YOU KNOW IT WHEN YOU SEE IT careful attention during course altera- to the ship is important for these off-the- tions to minimize heel, and of course, for beaten-track places.” the comfort of passengers,” says Captain ARP has implemented a very robust

Ian Perry, ARP Pilot and Pilot Trainer. and modern Pilotage Operations Safety

Captain Perry is one of 44 highly ex- Management System (POSMS), which perienced ARP marine pilots who regu- was of? cially approved by the Australian larly shepherd vessels through the ship- Maritime Safety Authority in October ping channels of the Great Barrier Reef 2014. A group of ARP pilots and man-

Marine Park. One of the most environ- agement worked alongside well known mentally-sensitive regions in the world, and respected marine safety expert Cap- the Reef is heritage-listed, and ARP are tain Ravi Nijjer to research more than known as the unof? cial Guardians of a century of accident reports from the the Reef. In addition to offering pilotage Reef, as well as marine incidents from through the Great North East Channel, around the globe in order to put together

Hydrographers Passage, the Inner Route, a safety management system relevant to

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Photo credit: Australian Reef Pilots Pty Ltd.

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