Ministerial Guidelines for Granting Licences and Permits to Engage in Australia’s Domestic Shipping

These guidelines were approved on the 21 December 2009 by the Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.

Permits Generally

Applicants should apply for permits well in advance. Permits are processed during office hours (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday) excepting public holidays and the annual shutdown of the Department between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Applicants should plan their applications accordingly. Permit applications received after 5pm on any working day will be deemed to have been received on the following working day.
Permits will not be issued or amended retrospectively where the loading of coastal cargo or the carriage of that cargo has already commenced. Applicants should apply for amendments well in advance. Carriage by unlicensed vessels of coastal cargo or passengers not covered by a permit may result in a prosecution against the master, owner or agent.
Under section 389 of the Navigation Act it is an offence for persons to make false declarations, false statements or false representations or give false evidence on oath, in connexion with an application or proceeding under the Act. These offences are punishable by a fine not exceeding $5000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 2 years, or both.

Successive permits may be issued provided that the ship has left the Australian coast on a regular basis (at least once in any 3 month period). For Continuing Voyage Permits (CVPs), this may be either during the period covered by a permit or between successive permits. Applicants should supply the name and date of the last foreign port called, and the first foreign port called after the currency of a permit, and (for CVPs) the name and date of at least one of any foreign ports to be called during the currency of a permit.
Ships proposing to carry dry bulk coastal cargo under a coasting trade permit must notify the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) and provide details of the cargo and ports involved.
Permit holders are expected to be aware of and comply with any requirement under legislation to report to AMSA and/or the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) any accident or incident involving the ship or its crew while operating under the terms of a permit.
An applicant for a permit for a vessel must indicate at the time of application whether the ship holds a valid International Ship Security Certificate or interim certificate.

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Statement of Cargo Actually Carried

Applicants to whom a permit is issued must complete a Statement of Cargo Actually Carried for each voyage made under the permit. The return of these Statements to the Department, within 14 days of the sailing date under either a continuing or single voyage permit, is a condition attached to the issue of each permit. Persons to whom a permit has been issued are required to adhere to this condition. Failure to do so may delay the issue of any further permits sought until the deficiency is rectified.

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Fees

Permit and licence fees are to accompany applications in the form of a credit card transaction. Contact shipping@infrastructure.gov.au or 1300 307 761 to obtain a Direct Debit Request (DDR) Form to authorise the Department to debit funds from the nominated credit card. The signed original Form must be returned to the Department prior to any permit or licence being processed.

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Release of Permit Application Data

Details of applications (including the name of the vessel for which the permit is being applied) will be provided to relevant licensed ship operators, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), the Australian Shipowners Association (ASA), the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers (AIMPE) and Australian Maritime Officers Union (AMOU) at the time of application seeking factual information, to enable the Department to assess the availability and suitability of licensed tonnage.

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Public Release of Data for Permits Used

(A). Details of each permit issued, including the name of the ship, cargo, port(s) of loading/discharge and dates of loading, will be made available on the Department’s website at www.infrastructure.gov.au. Details contained in individual Statements of Cargo Actually Carried, including the amounts of cargoes that were actually carried and the dates on which they were shipped, will also be made available on the Department’s website. CVPs are also notified in the Government Gazette after issue and details will also be made available on the Department’s website.

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Production of Permits

It is a condition of issue of permits that permit holders must produce the permit to the Australian Customs Services at each port of loading and discharge prior to commencing loading or discharge of cargo carried under permit.

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Single Voyage Permits (SVPs)

Permits may only be issued where licensed vessels are not available or are inadequate and the issue of the permit is in the public interest. SVPs exist for circumstances where there is a one-off unavailability of suitable licensed ships. An SVP is issued for a particular vessel to carry a nominated cargo or number of passengers between particular ports, loading and sailing on or about specified days.

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Amendments

SVPs are issued for a stated type and volume of cargo or passengers, with a stated volume tolerance of plus or minus 10% and a sailing date tolerance of, generally, 3 clear days either side of the nominated sailing date. The holder of an SVP must seek an amendment, before loading, if the amount or type of cargo or passengers to be carried, or the actual sailing date, change so as to fall outside these tolerances. In situations where cargo (or passengers) is loaded outside the stipulated tolerances, further permits will not be issued without a satisfactory explanation in writing to the Department.

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Timing and Application Fees

The Department will endeavour to issue normal SVPs by 5pm on the 4th working day following the day on which the application is received. Applicants should note that applications in respect of single-hulled tankers over 15 years old may involve extra processing time for the Department to obtain an assessment of the independent inspection report.
Permit fees are prescribed by Regulation. The application fee for a normal (non-urgent) cargo SVP, non-urgent amendment of an SVP application, or non-urgent amendment of an issued SVP, currently is $200. The prescribed fee for a passenger SVP application is $22. Separate applications are required for passengers (use form CT-1) and for cargo (use form CT-2). The application fee is $400 for an urgent cargo SVP or an urgent amendment to an application or permit (one for issue by 5pm on the second working day following the day on which the application is received).
Where an applicant seeks an Urgent SVP, it must also provide a statement that clearly demonstrates to the Department why the permit is required on an urgent basis. The statement must address the particular circumstances of the shipment(s) involved, for example, when the need for an urgent permit became obvious. To avoid delays, applicants should provide as much detail as possible about the reasons for urgency of the application when applying for an urgent permit.
The applicant for an urgent SVP must also sign a declaration to the effect that the information in the statement above is true to the best of the applicant’s belief.

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Continuing Voyage Permits (CVPs)

A CVP may be issued where there is insufficient or inadequate shipping capacity available from suitable licensed vessels over an extended period.
Prerequisites for a CVP are the same as for a SVP, namely that licensed vessels are unavailable or inadequate to meet the needs of a shipper and the Minister is satisfied it is in the public interest to allow an unlicensed ship to engage in that trade. The public interest is assessed for each application and the criteria are the same as for SVPs, including satisfactory permit-related inspection reports and shipper declarations for tanker and bulk carrier permits.
CVPs may be issued for periods of up to 3 months.
To carry cargo between ports other than as specified in a CVP, the holder of a CVP should apply for an SVP.
All CVP holders are advised to comply fully with the requirements of Australia’s customs, quarantine and immigration regimes (for more information see Internet sites at www.immi.gov.au, www.daff.gov.au/aqis and www.customs.gov.au respectively). Failure to do so will be considered in assessing whether the issue of any further permit would be in the public interest.

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Availability and Adequacy

The question of whether licensed ships are available and adequate is addressed on a case by case basis. Applicants must specify in their application the voyages proposed under the permit, including the intended volume and type of cargo, the port rotation, and the intended loading and sailing dates for each voyage.
Operators of licensed ships, the MUA, ASA, AIMPE and AMOU are consulted on whether any suitable licensed ships are available to carry the specified cargoes on any or all of the voyages listed in the application.
Applicants should submit their application using the Department’s online system. Where circumstances dictate this is not possible, applicants must supply a schedule listing all proposed voyages under the permit, showing cargo types and expected volumes, and dates of loading, sailing and discharge at the nominated ports to be covered by the permit. In addition, applicants must specify: the name and date called of the last foreign port to be visited prior to the commencement of the permit period; the first foreign port to be visited after the end of the permit period; and one of any foreign ports to be visited during the currency of the permit.
Where a licensed ship is available to carry the specified cargoes for some of the voyages specified in a CVP application, the permit is issued on condition that it will only be used when a licensed ship is not available. A condition of issue of the permit is that the permit holder then is responsible for ascertaining the availability of licensed ships prior to each voyage and providing documentary proof of this, such as a signed declaration to that effect, to the Department within 7 days of that voyage commencing.
Alternatively, the Department may offer the applicant the opportunity to amend its application to exclude voyages/ports/cargoes for which licensed vessels are available. In this case, as a condition of issue of the permit, the permit holder must then notify the Department in writing as soon as possible and certainly prior to the vessel commencing to load, when there is a material change proposed in any of the details of the voyages specified in the CVP application. The Department then will re-check the availability of licensed ships.

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Timing and Application Fees

The Department will endeavour to issue CVP by 5pm on the 10th working day after the day on which the application is received. There is no provision for urgent issue of CVPs.
The application fee prescribed by Regulation for a CVP is currently $400.
The application fee for amending a CVP whereby the face of the permit is changed is currently $400. No fee is chargeable for amending a CVP whereby the face of the permit remains unchanged or amending an application for a CVP.

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Revision of Guidelines

These Guidelines may be revised from time to time at the Minister’s discretion. Persons using the Guidelines should ensure they are using the latest version available on the Department’s website www.infrastructure.gov.au.

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Contacts

For further information on the Coasting Trade permits and licences please contact the Coordination Centre on 1300 307 761 or shipping@infrastructure.gov.au.

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