Marine Safety in Victoria Report 2007-2008 (PDF, 1.3 MB, 72 pp.)

Marine Safety in Victoria
July 2007 to June 2008
Prepared for Marine Safety Victoria
by Monash University Accident Research Centre
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008
A

© Marine Safety Victoria, Australia, 2009
Published by Marine Safety Victoria
121 Exhibition Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced
by any process except in accordance with the provisions
of the Copyright Act 1968.

Contents
Summary 6
1. Introduction 11
1.1 Background 12
1.2 Data sources 12
1.2.1 Marine Incident Reporting (MIR) 12
1.2.2 Victorian injury surveillance datasets 13
1.3 Exposure data 14
2. Structure of the report and definitions 15
2.1 Structure 15
2.2 Definitions 15
3. Results: commercial vessel incidents (2007/8) 17
3.1 Incident frequency and trend 17
3.2 ‘Response only’ incidents (n=49) 18
3.2.1 Severity of ‘response only’ commercial incidents 18
3.2.2 Waterway name 18
3.2.3 Major causes (types) of incidents 18
3.2.4 Vessel details 18
3.2.5 Seasonal distribution, weather and water conditions 18
3.2.6 Contributory factors 19
3.3 Serious incidents (n=90) 19
3.3.1 Severity of serious incidents 19
3.3.2 Major causes (types) of incidents 21
3.3.3 Vessel details 21
3.3.4 Vessel occupant details, PFD wear 22
3.3.5 Seasonal distribution 22
3.3.6 Waterway type, location and environmental conditions 23
3.3.7 Contributory factors to ‘serious incidents’ 24
3.4 Hospital-treated commercial boating-related injuries recorded on injury
surveillance databases (2006/7) 25
3.4.1 Hospital admissions (n=4) 26
3.4.2 Hospital emergency department presentations (n=13) 26
4. Results: hire/drive vessel incidents (2007/8) 27
4.1 Frequency 27
4.2 Incident severity 27
4.3 Major causes (types) of incidents 27
4.4 Vessel and occupant details 27
4.5 Type of water and environmental conditions 28
4.6 Contributory factors 28

5. Results: recreational vessel incidents (2007/8) and hospital-treated
boating injury (2006/7) 29
5.1 Recreational vessel incidents (2007/8) 30
5.2 Response only incidents (n=926) 30
5.2.1 Severity of ‘response only’ incidents 30
5.2.2 Major causes (types) of incidents 30
5.2.3 Vessel details 30
5.2.4 Seasonal distribution 30
5.2.5 Contributory factors 31
5.3 Serious incidents (n=165) 33
5.3.1 Severity of ‘serious incidents’ 33
5.3.2 Major causes (types) of incidents 35
5.3.3 Vessel details 37
5.3.4 Vessel occupant details, PFD wear 38
5.3.5 Seasonal distribution 39
5.3.6 Type of water and environmental conditions 39
5.3.7 Contributory factors to recreational serious incidents 40
5.4 Fatalities and hospital-treated recreational boating-related injuries 2006/7 42
5.4.1 Deaths (n=3) 42
5.4.2 Hospital-treated injury (n=902 cases) 43
5.5 Ranking of recreational boating-related activities for injury 49
5.5.1 Towed water sports (n=388) 50
5.5.2 Motor boating and boating not specified (n=279) 55
5.5.3 Personal Watercraft (PWC)/Jet ski riding (n=80) 56
5.5.4 Sailing (n=53) 57
5.5.5 Windsurfing and kitesurfing (n=39) 58
5.5.6 Fishing from a boat (n=28) 58
6. Discussion and conclusion 60
7. References 66
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 3

Figures
Title
Page
Figure 1 Trend in commercial vessel incidents by year, Marine Incident Database 1999/2000 to 2007/8 17
Figure 2 Distribution of commercial vessel incidents by month of incident, Marine Incident Reporting 22
system 2007/8 (n=139)
Figure 3 Trend in hire-drive vessel incidents by year, Marine Incident Reporting system 1999/2000 to 27
2007/8
Figure 4 Trend in recreational vessel incidents by year, Marine Incident Reporting system, 1999/2000 29
to 2007/8
Figure 5 Distribution of recreational vessel incidents by month of incident, Marine Incident Reporting 31
system 2007/8 (n=1,091)
Figure 6 Frequency of recreational vessel ‘serious incidents’ by type of vessel, Marine Incident 37
Reporting system 2007/8
Figure 7 Trend in the frequency and rate (per 100,000 population) of recreational boating-related 46
hospital admissions by year, Victoria 1999/2000 to 2006/2007
Figure 8 Rate of recreational boating-related hospital admissions per 100,000 population by age and
gender, Victoria July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007 (n=223)
47
Figure 9 Frequency of recreational boating-related injury ED presentations (non-admissions) by age
and sex, Victoria July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007 (n=679)
Figure 10 Trend in the frequency of hospital-treated towed water sports injury, Victoria July 1999 to
June 2007
Figure 11 Hospital-treated towed water sports injury by age group, Victoria July 1, 2006 to June 30,
2007 (n=388)
Figure 12 ED presentations for towed water sports injury by age group, Victoria July 1 2006 to June 30,
2007 (n=288)
Figure 13 Hospital-treated personal watercraft (PWC) injury by age group, Victoria July 1, 2006 to June
30, 2007 (n=388)
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Tables
Title
Table 1 Commercial vessel ‘serious incidents’ by severity of incident and year, Marine Incident Reporting
system 2006/7 and 2007/8
Table 2 Commercial vessel ‘serious incidents’ by type (cause) of incident, Marine Incident Reporting
system 2006/7 and 2007/8
Table 3 Commercial ‘serious incidents’ by environmental conditions, Marine Incident Reporting system,
2007/8
Table 4 Factors contributing to commercial ‘serious incidents’, Marine Incident Reporting system 2007/8
(n=72 factors))
Table 5 Factors contributing to ‘response only’ recreational vessel incidents, Marine Incident Reporting
system 2007/8 (n=1,170 factors)
Table 6 Recreational vessel ‘serious incidents’ by severity and year, Marine Incident Reporting system
2006/7 and 2007/8
Table 7 Recreational vessel ‘serious incidents’ by type (cause) of incident, Marine Incident Reporting
system 2006/7 and 2007/8
Table 8 Recreational vessel ‘serious incidents’ by vessel activity and year, Marine Incident Reporting
system 2006/7 and 2007/8
Table 9 Recreational vessel ‘serious incidents’ by grouped vessel length and PFD wear, Marine Incident
Reporting system 2007/8
Table 10 Recreational ‘serious incidents’ by environmental conditions, Marine Incident Reporting system
2007/8
Table 11 Factors contributing to recreational ‘serious incidents’, Marine Incident Reporting system 2007/8
(n=322 factors)
Table 12 Pattern of hospital-treated recreational boating injury, Victoria July 1, 2006 to June 2007
(n=902 cases)
Table 13 Recreational boating-related injury admissions by water craft/activity type and length of hospital
stay, Victoria July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007 (n=223)
Table 14 Provisional ranking of boating-related recreational activities based on frequency of fatal and nonfatal
hospital-treated injury cases, Victoria July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007
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Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 5

Summary
This is the fifth MUARC report on marine incidents and boating related deaths and hospital-treated injury
in Victoria. Marine incident data were sourced from the Marine Incident Reporting System (MIR), deaths
from the National Coroners Information System (NCIS) and hospital admissions and Emergency
Department presentations from hospital datasets held by the Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit at MUARC.
Commercial and recreational vessel incidents recorded on the MIR system
(2007/8)
Commercial vessel incidents (2007/8)
• There were 139 marine incidents involving commercial vessels recorded on MID over the 12-month
period July 2007 to June 2008, 15 more than were reported in the previous year (excluding false alarm
and non-marine ‘response only’ incidents in both years).
• 49 (35%) of the commercial marine incidents were classified as ‘response only’, 90 (65%) as
serious incidents.
Response only incidents (n=49)
• Response only incidents cover vessel disablements and persons in trouble. Excluding false alarms and
non-marine incidents, there were 49 commercial ‘response only’ incidents reported in 2007/8, 15 more
than in 2006/7 (n=34).
• Response only incidents peaked in Autumn (n=16, 33%), due to a high number of incidents in May.
• All were vessel disablements. Most did not result in any damage to property or person (n=38, 78%).
Of the 11 incidents that caused damage, one incident caused serious injury, one caused damage
to property and another caused damage to another vessel. In the remaining cases the damage was
undefined.
• Contributing factors were noted for 47 of the 49 ‘response only’ commercial incidents. Eighty-two
percent of the primary contributory factors noted were material factors (n=44 incidents; either
machinery or electrical failures), 8% were human factors (n=4; vessel disabled due to lack of fuel or
lack of maintenance, vessel came adrift, vessel was steered into an object/sand when the operator was
trying to free another vessel that had run aground) and 6% (n=3) were environmental (two due to tidal
and bay conditions and the other to a length of canvas fire hose winding around the propeller).
Serious incidents (n=90)
• There were 90 commercial incidents categorised as ‘serious incidents’ recorded on the MIR system in
2007/8, the same numbers in 2006/7.
• There were no recorded fatalities on the MIR system in 2007/8.
• Over two-thirds (68%) of these ‘serious incidents’ did not result in any personal or property damage,
11% resulted in serious or minor injury but no damage to vessel or property, 14% resulted in vessel loss
or damage without personal injury and 8% resulted in damage to property without personal injury.
• Close quarters (52%), grounding (13%) and collisions (12%) were the leading causes of ‘serious incidents’
• A high proportion of the vessels involved in incidents were foreign-owned (n=40, 44%), followed by
passenger vessels (Class One) (n=25, 28%), non-passenger vessels (Class 2) (n=9, 10%) and fishing
vessels (Class 3) (n=9, 10%).
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• The peak season for serious incidents was Spring (n=29, 32%) followed by Summer (n=23, 26%).
• Most commercial ‘serious incidents’ occurred in enclosed waters (61%), followed by inland waters (26%)
and coastal offshore waters (10%). Thirty-three incidents (37%) occurred on Port Phillip Bay, 22 occurred
on the Yarra River (24%).
• Unlike ‘response only’ incidents where material factors were the major contributors, serious incidents
were mostly caused by human factors (60% of factors, mostly errors of judgement), followed by
environmental factors (22%, mostly wind or sea state) then equipment/material factors (18%, mostly
hull failure and electrical failure).
Hire-drive vessel incidents (2007/8)
• There were 8 marine incidents involving a hire/drive vessel recorded on the MIR for the 12-month
period July 2007 to June 2008
• There was no damage in 6 hire/drive incidents (75%), damage to property only in one incident (12.5%)
and other vessel damage in one incident (12.5%).
• Five incidents were due to grounding-unintentional (63%), one was due to a disablement (12.5%), one
was an onboard incident-crushing/pinching (12.5%) and in the other case the type of incident was
undefined.
• In three incidents the primary contributory factor was environmental (wind/sea state) with human
factors also contributing (inexperience, navigational error and insecure mooring). In the other
five cases, the primary contributors were human factors (navigational error, inexperience, lack of
boat maintenance and ‘other’) with material factors making a secondary contribution in two cases
(equipment-machinery failure and ‘other’ material factor).
Recreational vessel incidents (2007/8)
• There were 1,091 recorded recreational vessel incidents on the MIR in 2007/8, up from 918 in 2006/7.
These figures exclude false alarms and non-marine ‘response only’ incidents. The 19% increase is
possibly due to better reporting.
• 85% of the recreational incidents (n=926) were ‘response only’ incidents (vessel disablements and
persons in trouble) and 15% (n=165) were ‘serious incidents’.
Response only incidents (n=926)
• There were 926 response only incidents recorded on the MIR system in 2007/8, an increase of 18% on
the previous year (n=782).
• Ninety-six percent (n=886) of ‘response only’ incidents did not result in any damage to property or
person, 3% (n=26) resulted in property damage only, 1% (n=10) resulted in other vessel damage and
there were two vessels lost (0.2%).
• 98% (n=904) were disablements and 2% (n=22) were persons in trouble
• Over one-third of incidents were each related to open boats (40%, n=368) and half-cabin cruisers (38%,
n=352), another 12% (n=114) were full-cabin cruisers, 4% (n=32) were yachts (keel boats), 3% (n=23)
were PWCs and 1% each involved trailer sailers (n=12) and off-the-beach yachts/catamarans (n=6). The
remaining 18 incidents involved kayaks (n=4), skiboats (3), windsurfers (4), kite (4), rafts (2), tenders (2),
and one houseboat, rowing boat and canoe.
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 7

• Nearly half (48%) of vessels were 4.8-8m in length, 30% were 0-4.8m in length, 4% were 8-12m in length
and 2% were greater than 12m in length.
• Half the incidents occurred in the 3-month period November to January (late Spring and Summer);
incidents were lowest in Winter (9%).
• In all, there were 1,170 recorded contributory factors to response-only recreational vessel incidents.
Material factors made the greatest contribution (61% of factors, mostly machinery and electrical
equipment failures), followed by human factors (35%, mostly lack of maintenance and lack of fuel), then
environmental factors (4%, mostly unfavourable wind or sea conditions).
Serious incidents (n=165)
• There were 165 serious incidents recorded on the MIR system in 2007/8, an increase of 26% on the
previous year (n=131).
• There were 9 deaths from 7 serious incidents recorded on the MIR system in 2007/8 compared with 5
deaths in 2006/7 (including two fatalities that were recorded under response only incidents). Deaths in
2007/8 were caused by drowning (3), impact injuries related to collisions (4) and burns (2)
• Nine serious injury cases were reported on the MIR system in 2007/8, one more than in 2006/7,
compared with 20 in 2005/6.
• Grounding (36%), capsizing (18%) and collision (13%) were the leading causes of ‘serious incidents’.
• More than one-quarter of ‘serious incidents’ involved open boats (26%), followed by full cabin cruisers
(22%), half cabin cruisers (19%), yachts – keel boats (12%) and PWC (8%).
• Twenty-two percent of vessels were 4.8m or less in length, 38% were 4.8-8.0m., 15% were 8-12m. and
6% were longer than 12m.
• Over one third of vessels (35%) were cruising when the ‘serious incident’ occurred. Incidents also
commonly occurred in fishing (19%), when the vessel was at anchor (13%) and during sailing
(n=20, 15%).
• Overall, 45% of recreational vessel occupants involved in serious incidents were recorded as wearing a
PFD, compared with 62% in 2006/7. The wear rate for persons on vessels up to and including 4.8m in
length was 58% (26/45), for vessels over 4.8m. in length the wear rate was 45% (69/152) and for vessels
of an unspecified length the wear rate was 28% (9/32).
• The frequency of serious incidents was higher in December (14.5%), January (17%) and March (17%).
There were few incidents in the 4-month period May to August (12% in all).
• Recreational ‘serious incidents’ mostly occurred in enclosed waters (73%), followed by coastal offshore
waters (12%) and inland waters (10%). Thirty-seven percent of reported ‘serious incidents’ occurred on
Port Phillip (n=61). Other common locations were Gippsland Lakes (n=28, 17%), Bass Strait (n=19, 11%)
and Western Port (n=18, 11%).
• Most ‘serious incidents’ occurred in clear weather with good visibility and wind speeds up to 8 knots.
High proportions of swamping (62%), capsizing (50%) and vessel loss (60%) incidents occurred in
choppy, rough or very rough water conditions.
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• Human factors made the greatest contribution to recreational vessel serious incident (65% of factors,
most commonly errors of judgement, inexperience, failure to keep proper lookout and navigational
errors). Environmental factors (19%, mostly wind or sea state, tidal and bar conditions) and material
factors (17%, mostly machinery, inadequate stability and electrical equipment failure) were less
commonly implicated.
Fatalities and hospital-treated recreational boating-related injuries recorded
on injury surveillance databases (2006/7)
Overall
• There were three boating-related drowning fatalities recorded on the National Coroners Information
System (NCIS) and 902 hospital-treated recreational boating injury cases (223 admissions and 679 ED
presentations, non admissions) recorded on hospital injury surveillance databases over the period July
2006 to June 2007.
Deaths
• One fatality was a fisherman who drowned after falling into the water from a powered half-cabin vessel
when putting out craypots. He was not wearing a PFD. The other was a fisherman who was found
dead in the water with his life jacket tangled around his wrist. The only recorded contributory factor to
the fatal incidents was non-wearing of PFD.
Hospital-treated injury (n=902 cases)
• There were 223 hospital admissions and 679 ED presentations (non-admissions) for boating-related
sport and recreational injuries recorded on the VAED and the VEMD respectively.
• Males were grossly over-represented in both admissions and ED presentations, accounting for 74% of
all hospital-treated recreational boating injury cases.
• Young adults aged 15-29 years, closely followed by adults aged 30-44 years, were more likely than
other 15-year age groups to be admitted to hospital and to present to ED for boating-related injury.
Age groups 15-29 and 30-34 years accounted for 35% and 29% of admissions and 41% and 26% of ED
presentations, respectively, for boating-related injury in 2006/7.
• Hospital-treated injury cases mostly occurred in water skiing and other towed water sports (41% of
admissions and 44% ED presentations), general boating (15% of admissions and 36% ED presentations)
and PWC riding (13% of admissions and 8% of ED presentations). Waterskiing and wakeboarding
together accounted for 95% of towed water sport admissions and 81% of towed water sport ED
presentations.
• The major specific causes of injury were: falls (24% of admissions and 32% of ED presentations) and hit/
struck/crush injuries involving objects (13% of admissions and 32% of ED presentations). There were 9
non-fatal drowning/submersion hospital-treated cases in 2006/7 compared with 22 in 2005/6.
• The lower extremity was the most commonly injured body site for both admissions and presentations,
accounting for 32% of all hospital treated injury, followed by the upper extremity (25%) and head/face/
neck (22%).
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 9

• Forty-four percent of admissions were fracture cases, most commonly knee and lower leg fractures
(29% of fracture cases). Dislocations/sprains/strains were the next most frequent type of injury (13%,
mostly shoulder dislocations). Among ED presentations, open wounds (26%) and sprains/strains (21%)
were common injuries.
The report also includes an analysis of deaths and hospital-treated injury in the major water sports. The
ranking of water sports for hospital-treated injury in 2006/7 were (from highest to lowest): water skiing
and other towed water sports (n=388 hospital-treated injury cases); motor boating/unspecified boating
(n=279); personal water craft (PWC) riding (n=80); sailing (n=53); wind/kite surfing (n=39); and fishing
(n=28). All injury case counts for water sports are likely underestimates due to data coding and quality
issues. Recommendations for prevention and data quality issues are highlighted in the discussion section.
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1. Introduction
This is the fifth report to the MSV on marine incidents and boating related deaths and hospital-treated
injury (admissions and Emergency Department presentations). Marine incident data included in this
report cover the 12-month period July 2007 to June 2008, whereas fatality and hospital-treated injury data
are for the previous year (2006/07).
Data on marine incidents were drawn from the Marine Incident Reporting (MIR) System formerly known
as the Marine Incident Database (MID), the third year of data from the upgraded system. Boating-related
fatality data were sourced from the National Coroners Information System (NCIS). Hospital admissions and
Emergency Department presentations data for boating-related injury were extracted from the Victorian
Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED) and the Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD). The VAED
covers all public and private hospitals in Victoria. The VEMD covered 38 Victorian hospital Emergency
Departments in 2006/07.
1.1 Background
Marine Safety Victoria (MSV) is the State’s marine safety agency and is responsible for the administration of
the Marine Act 1988. Its objectives are to:
• facilitate efficient and safe operation of vessels;
• facilitate navigation safety;
• improve community awareness of boating safety;
• improve and simplify vessel registration and operating requirements; and
• ensure an effective response to oil pollution incidents.
The responsibilities vested in MSV are as follows:
• Setting standards for the design, construction and equipment of commercial vessels to maintain
structural integrity and seaworthiness
• Setting standards related to recreational vessels and for operating and zoning rules
• Licensing of pilots and harbour masters and determining standards for the training of pilots, pilot
exempt masters and harbour masters
• Determining standards and procedures for navigation and maritime safety on State waters
• Developing appropriate standards for the provision and maintenance of navigational aids for
State waters
• Developing appropriate standards for dredging and maintenance of channels
• Enforcing and monitoring compliance with prescribed standards
• Developing, reviewing, coordinating and managing the Victorian Marine Pollution Contingency Plan
• Providing authoritative advice, commissioning research and promoting education and training in
marine safety matters
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 11

1.2 Data sources
1.2.1 Marine Incident Reporting (MIR)
Incident reports are made in accordance with Section 65 (cc) of the Marine Act 1988. This report covers
data on all marine incidents recorded using the Marine Incident Reporting (MIR) process from July 1, 2007
to June 30, 2008. The analyses are based on fiscal years to ensure that incidents recorded in each summer
boating season are counted in a single reporting year.
The data recorded using the MIR system conforms to the nationally agreed dataset established by the
National Marine Safety Committee in 1998. As defined by the National Marine Safety Data Collection
Reference Manual 1998, a marine incident is an ‘event causing or involving any of the following:
• death of, or serious injury to, any person on board a vessel, or caused by a vessel;
• loss of a person from a vessel;
• abandonment, loss or presumed loss of a vessel;
• collision of a vessel with another vessel or an object;
• grounding, sinking, flooding or capsizing of a vessel;
• fire or explosion on board a vessel; or
• structural failure of a vessel.
It is important to note that incident reports are generated only when an incident is notified to the Water
Police or to another designated emergency response organisation. If outside assistance is not required
then there is no legal requirement to report the incident. Therefore, many marine incidents are unlikely to
be reported and recorded using the MIR process. Examples of incidents that are not usually reported are:
• incidents at registered yacht club events where rescues are performed by the yacht club itself;
• incidents where a passing (usually recreational) vessel has provided assistance; and
• some categories of recreational incidents (e.g. waterskiing incidents) where the vessel occupants
provide direct assistance.
Some reported incidents that occur in a marine setting are out of scope and are therefore excluded from
the MIR process such as incidents involving:
• swimmers in distress (except ‘swim to shores’ from a marine vessel);
• suicides; and
• surf board and surf ski riders.
The MIR process divides incidents into two categories: ‘response only’ incidents and ‘serious’ incidents.
‘Serious’ incidents conform to the definition of a marine incident in the national reference manual
and include:
• Incidents resulting in hospital treatment (recently expanded to include emergency department
presentations in Victoria)
• Collision
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• Grounding
• Capsizing
• Sinking
• Flooding
• Loss/presumed loss of vessel
• Loss of stability
• Fire
• Explosion
• Person overboard
• Onboard incident
• Other personal injury
• Close quarters
‘Response only’ incidents are incidents that generate an emergency response and are covered by the MIR
process but do not conform to the definition of a marine incident in the national reference manual. A
more restricted definition of ‘response only’ incidents was adopted for this report (see section 2.2) that only
includes:
• Vessel disablements; and
• Persons in trouble.
Because the MIR system is limited to incidents requiring emergency response, other Victorian injury
surveillance datasets were interrogated to identify additional boating-related injuries.
1.2.2 Victorian injury surveillance datasets
In the injury surveillance field the term ‘boating-related injury’ is used for injuries involving water craft
that occur in the marine setting. This term is used in preference to ‘marine incident’ as injuries associated
with marine animals have also been classified as ‘marine incidents’ in reports prepared by MUARC (Ashby
and Cassell, 2004). For consistency ‘marine incident’ will be used when referring to cases captured by
the MIR system, whereas boating-related injury will be used when referring to cases included in injury
surveillance datasets.
1.2.2.1 Victorian coronial data
Data on fatal boating-related incidents investigated by the Victorian Coroner within the period July 1, 2005
to June 30, 2006 were sourced from the Victorian office of the National Coroners Information System.
1.2.2.2 Hospital admissions data
Hospital admissions data for 2006/7 were extracted from the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED).
The VAED covers all Victorian hospitals, both public and private. VAED data are classified using the World
Health Organization (WHO) International Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding system. Data for the study
period (July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007) are coded to ICD version 10, Australian Modification (AM). This year
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 13

of data is coded using the fourth AM edition that includes detailed activity codes for sport and recreational
activities including a list of codes for boating sports and adventure sports. Deaths recorded on VAED were
excluded to avoid over counting of fatalities.
1.2.2.3 Emergency department presentation data
In 2006/7 the Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD) captured presentations to 38 hospital
Emergency Departments (ED) representing all Victorian public hospitals with a 24-hour ED service. ED
presentations for injury to private hospitals and public hospitals with limited provision of ED services
(mostly small metropolitan and rural hospitals) are not captured on the VEMD.
There are no codes to identify boating-related injury ED presentations on the VEMD, so case narratives
(descriptions) were searched to identify specific boating-related injury cases. Keywords used in the search
included: biscuit, boat, canoe, catamaran, dinghy, jet ski, kayak, kitesurf, kneeboard, parasail, PWC, sail,
raft, rowing, runabout, tinny, tube, wakeboard, waterski, windsurf and yacht (and spelling variations of
these terms).
Injury cases related to aquatic activities that are out of scope for MSV were excluded such as injuries that
occurred during body and board surfing, surf ski riding, scuba diving, snorkelling, and swimming (except
swim to shore from a boat). Injury cases that occurred in boat sheds or when a person was working/
repairing a boat or boat building (model and otherwise) and non-specific skiing injury cases that occurred
during the official snow skiing season (June to September) were also excluded.
Deaths in the ED and cases that were subsequently admitted to hospital were excluded to avoid over
counting of cases. However, the case narrative data for hospital admissions recorded on the VEMD were
analysed to provide additional information on the circumstances of the injury, as the VAED contains no
case descriptions (narratives). Boating-related ED presentations are underestimated in this report because
the quality of case narrative data varies across participating hospitals.
1.3 Exposure data
In studying risk it is critical to know the level of relevant activity (or exposure to risk). For example, two
deaths for every 1,000 hours of exposure to recreational boating reflect a better safety system than two
deaths for every 500 hours of exposure. Unfortunately, there is almost no available ‘time at risk’ information
on which to estimate the relative risk of injury in the different types of marine activities, for example
personal watercraft riding versus water skiing.
Some jurisdictions report marine incidents per registered vessel as a substitute for exposure (usage)
data, following the precedent set in the road safety field. For recreational vessels however, usage is only
indirectly related to ownership. Other jurisdictions report incidents per participant. Because of the
unavailability of Victorian boating participation and exposure data, population data were used to form the
denominator in this study.
Although frequency data (as reported here) are useful for priority setting, they are sub-optimal for planning
and evaluation of prevention programs.
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2. Structure of the report and definitions
2.1 Structure
Cases extracted from the four datasets are classified and reported according to the class of vessel involved
in the incident: commercial, hire drive and recreational. Each incident is allocated to only one category. If
two classes of vessel are involved in the one incident then the incident is classified according to the ‘higher’
category of vessel involved, with commercial vessels ranked above hire drive, then recreational vessels.
Within these three broad categories both non-injury (‘serious’ and ‘response only’ incidents) and injury (fatal
and non-fatal) incidents are reported.
2.2 Definitions
Commercial vessel
A commercial vessel is any vessel, other than one under the control of the Department of Defence, which
is operated in connection with a commercial transaction of any kind including operation as a business,
service, for profit or research.
It is important to note that responsibility for large commercial vessels (and vessel safety) rest primarily with
the Commonwealth. The jurisdiction of MSV for commercial vessel safety matters is confined to Victorian
registered vessels such as commercial fishing vessels, small ferries and other passenger vessels and the like.
Hire Drive vessel
A hire drive vessel is any boat or vessel that is let for hire or reward or for any other consideration including
vessels provided in conjunction with holiday establishments or hotels for the use of guests or tenants and
which the hirer uses solely for pleasure.
Recreational vessel
Recreational vessels are those used solely for the purpose of recreational or sporting activities and not
used for hire or reward.
Response only incidents
‘Response only’ incidents are incidents covered by the MIR system but not covered by the definition of a
‘marine incident’ in the national reference manual. They include:
• disablement of vessel i.e. when a vessel has broken down or been disabled
• persons in trouble i.e. no vessel was involved but activity still happened in the water e.g., person on
body board has been swept out to sea
False alarms (incident is a false alarm but still be responded to) and non-marine incidents (no vessel was
involved and activity did not happen in the water e.g. rock fisherman trapped on rocks) were not included
in counts in 2007/8 and were removed from the 2005/6 and 2006/7 counts for trend analysis and when
data for 2007/8 were being compared to data for 2006/7.
Serious incidents
Serious incidents conform to the definition of a ‘marine incident’ in the national reference manual
and include incidents resulting in hospital admission; and vessel-related incidents involving collision;
grounding; capsizing; sinking; swamping; flooding; loss or presumed loss of vessel; loss of stability; fire;
explosion; person overboard; onboard incident; other person injury; and close quarters.
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 15

MSV has expanded this definition to include ED presentations.
Fatality
A fatality is an injury death recorded on the MIR system or in Victorian coronial records.
Hospital-treated injury
Hospital-treated injury is the collective term for hospital admissions and emergency department
presentations due to injury.
Hospital admission
A hospital admission is any injury case admitted to a hospital ward, including short stay observation ward,
as an inpatient for treatment/care.
Emergency Department (ED) presentation
An ED presentation is an injury case presenting to an emergency department for treatment and
discharged within four hours from the time patient management commences without admission to a
ward, including a short stay observation ward.
16

3. Results: commercial vessel incidents
(2007/8)
3.1 Incident frequency and trend
There were 139 marine incidents involving commercial vessels recorded on MIR system over the
12-month period July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008, 15 more than were reported in the previous year. Of
the 139 commercial vessel marine incidents, 49 (35%) were classified as ‘response only’ and 90 (65%) as
‘serious’ incidents.
Figure 1 shows the trend in reported marine incidents from 1999/2000 to 2007/8. No inferences can yet
be drawn from the trend line because case capture (on the MID) was poor up to 2005/6 and may still be
improving. Several more years of data will be needed to establish reliable trend data.
Figure 1 Trend in commercial vessel incidents by year, Marine Incident Database
1999/2000 to 2007/8
160
150
140
130
139
120
124
110
100
90
Frequency
80
70
81
60
58
50
50
52
40
30
34
32
20
21 25
10
0
199900 200001 200102 200203 200304 200405 200506 200607 200708
Financial year
Source: Marine Incident Database July 1999 to June 2008
Notes: (1) Data for 2001/2 were incomplete, as incidents were not recorded in September and October. The dotted line shows the trend
if incidents in those two months were estimated using the average frequency of incidents for the same months in previous years.
(2) The ‘response only’ category of commercial vessel incidents for 1999/2000 to 2004/5 includes disablements, overdue vessels
and unspecified incidents. The inclusion criteria changed in 2005/6 with the introduction of the MIR and the ‘response only’
category covered vessel disablements, persons in trouble, false alarms and non-marine incidents. MSV requested that the
‘response only’ category in the 2007/08 report should be restricted to vessel disablements and persons in trouble and false
alarms and non-marine incidents excluded. In this trend graph we have excluded false alarms and non-marine incidents from all
years from 2005/6 for consistency.
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 17

3.2 ‘Response only’ incidents (n=49)
In 2007/8 the definition of ‘response only’ incidents was restricted to vessel disablements and persons in
trouble and false alarms and non-marine incidents excluded. There were 49 commercial ‘response only’
incidents reported on the MIR in 2007/8, 15 more than in 2006/7 (n=34, excluding false alarms and nonmarine
incidents). All were single vessel incidents.
3.2.1 Severity of ‘response only’ commercial incidents
Most of the 49 ‘response only’ incidents did not result in any damage to property or person (n=38, 78%).
The injury status of one incident was coded as ‘missing person’ but the incident description did not
support this code. One incident caused serious injury (2%, a commercial fishing vessel skipper crushed
his finger when deploying the anchor); one caused damage to property (2%) and another caused damage
to another vessel (2%). In the remaining cases (n=7; 15%) the damage to person and/or property was
undefined.
3.2.2 Waterway name
Forty-one percent of response only incidents occurred on Port Phillip Bay, 25% on the Yarra River and a
further 20% on Bass Strait. The remainder occurred on Corio Bay (8%), Western Port (4%) and Gippsland
Lakes-Lake Victoria (2%).
3.2.3 Major causes (types) of incidents
All incidents were disablements.
3.2.4 Vessel details
Thirty-two (65%) of the vessels involved in the 49 commercial ‘response only’ incidents were foreign
owned/registered. The other vessels involved were class 3 fishing vessels (n=7, 14%), class 1 passenger
vessels (n=7, 14%) and class 2 non-passenger vessels (n=3, 6%). Seventy-six percent of vessels were
greater than 12m in length, 8% were 8-12m long and 4% were 4.6-8m long.
3.2.5 Seasonal distribution, weather and water conditions
Just over one third (35%) of the commercial ‘response only’ incidents were reported in the 3-month period
March to May 2008, with the peak in May when 10 incidents occurred.
The wind speed and water conditions were undefined or unknown for 21 incidents (43%) and for 4
incidents (8%) the wind speed was recorded but not the water conditions. Twelve incidents (24%)
occurred in calm water conditions with wind speeds of 15 knots or less. Four (8%) occurred in choppy
water with wind speeds of 9-15 knots, five (10%) in rough water conditions with wind speed ranging from
9 to over 30 knots and one (2%) in very rough water with a wind speed of over 30 knots. One incident (2%)
occurred in a strong current with a wind speed of 9-15 knots.
Weather and visibility was undefined or unknown for 24 cases (49%). In one further case (2%) the visibility
was recorded (good) but the weather was coded as unknown and in another (2%) the weather was
18

ecorded (rain) but not the visibility level. Eighteen incidents (37%) occurred in clear weather with good
visibility. Two (4%) occurred in cloudy weather with fair visibility, one (2%) in cloudy weather with poor
visibility and one (2%) in cloudy weather with good visibility. One incident (2%) occurred in hazy weather
with fair visibility.
3.2.6 Contributory factors
Contributing factors were noted for 47 of the 49 ‘response only’ commercial incidents. Eighty-two percent
of the primary contributory factors noted were material factors (n=44 incidents, either machinery or
electrical failures), 8% were human factors (n=4; vessel disabled due to lack of fuel or lack of maintenance,
vessel came adrift, vessel was steered into an object/sand when the operator was trying to free another
vessel that had run aground) and 6% (n=3) were environmental (two due to tidal and bay conditions and
the other to a length of canvas fire hose winding around the propeller).
3.3 Serious incidents (n=90)
There were 90 serious incidents involving commercial vessels recorded on the MIR system in 2007/8, the
same numbers in 2006/7.
3.3.1 Severity of serious incidents
Incident severity is captured by two variables: incident severity and injury status. Table 1 shows the results
of a cross tabulation of these variables. Where data were inconsistent i.e. injury status = minor injury and
incident severity = serious injury a hierarchy based on personal injury severity (from fatality to minor injury)
then property damage (vessel lost, property or other vessel damage, no damage) was applied
Table 1
Commercial vessel ‘serious incidents’ by severity of incident and year, Marine Incident
Reporting system 2006/7 and 2007/8
2006/7 2007/8
N % N %
Serious injury incident 2 2 4 4
Minor injury incident, vessel lost - - 1 1
Minor injury incident, other vessel damage 1 1 - -
Minor injury incident, no damage to property 1 1 5 6
Vessel lost, no personal injury - - 5 6
Other vessel damage, no personal injury - - 7 8
Damage to property only, no personal injury 28 31 7 8
No damage, no personal injury 58 64 61 68
TOTAL 90 100 90 100
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 19

There were no recorded commercial vessel-related fatalities on the MIR system in 2007/8, as in 2006/7.
Over two-thirds (68%) of the ‘serious incidents’ reported in 2007/8 did not result in any personal or property
damage, 11% resulted in serious or minor injury but no damage to vessel or property, 14% resulted in
vessel loss or damage without personal injury and 8% resulted in damage to property without personal
injury (Table 1).
The four serious injury incidents were described as follows:
(1) A crew member on board a cement bulk carrier en-route from Davenport to Port Phillip fell whilst at
sea 50k south of Port Phillip Heads. He suffered head and facial injuries and was unconscious for 15
minutes. Air rescue was not possible due to wind and sea conditions and paramedics could not get
out to him from Queenscliff. When the vessel berthed in Yarra he was transferred by ambulance to the
Alfred Hospital.
(2) An 8-year old girl, a passenger on the Yarra Princess, fell down the aft stairs near the doorway to the
aft deck and fractured her forearm. She was taken off the vessel at Victoria Harbour and transported
to hospital.
(3) The skipper of the Sea Eagle was injured during a routine check of the engine when the engine catch
cover fell and his head was crushed between the engine bay and the hatch cover. He suffered facial
fractures.
(4) A man jumped off the bow of a vessel onto shore whilst it was moored. He landed awkwardly and
broke his left ankle.
The six vessel losses occurred in the following circumstances:
(1) The fishing vessel ‘Jumanji’ caught fire while tied up at the northern end of Fisherman’s Wharf and
continued to burn for 2 hours before fire was extinguished by CFA.
(2) Vessel was a survey vessel that was currently not in operation and was moored at Centre Pier, Victoria
Harbour Docklands. The vessel began taking on water and sank below waterline.
(3) A vessel was running low on fuel, a bar crossing at night was attempted and the vessel ran aground. It
subsequently took on water in port hull and began to break up.
(4) Professional prawn trawler was working approximately 250 (?) off shore from Lakes Entrance. A
problem developed with the heat exchanger hose and the vessel started taking large amount of
water. A decision was made to bring in the gear and head for the beach. The vessel rolled on its port
side approximately 80 metres off shore and sunk in shallow water. The life raft deployed and the
crew abandoned ship. The alarm was raised and crew members were rescued by the Lakes Entrance
Coast Guard.
(5) A 23 foot abalone fishing vessel was operating close to shore when it was hit by waves and was
swamped and sunk. Both occupants, the abalone diver and skipper, were retrieved from water safely
and conveyed back to Apollo Bay.
(6) The fishing vessel ‘The Saint’ sank on 12 April 2008, the owner reported he suspected that the vessel
may have been tampered with.
20

3.3.2 Major causes (types) of incidents
Close quarters (52%), grounding (13%) and collisions (12%) were the leading causes of ‘serious incidents’
in 2007/8 (Table 2). While the ranking of the top 3 causes is similar in 2007/8 to 2006/7 there were
fewer collisions and more grounding, swamping/sinking and on-board incidents in 2007/8 compared
with 2006/7.
Table 2
Commercial vessel ‘serious incidents’ by type (cause) of incident, Marine Incident
Reporting system 2006/7 and 2007/8
INCIDENT TYPE 2006/7 Current year 2007/8
N % N %
SERIOUS INCIDENT
Close quarters 44 49 47 52
Collision
27 30 11 12
• fixed object
15 33 2 2
• with another vessel
9 10 4 4
• floating object
3 3 2 2
• submerged object
- - 3 3
Structural failure - - 1 1
Grounding 7 8 12 13
Fire 3 3 3 3
Capsizing 2 2 - -
Swamping/sinking 2 2 6 7
Other personal injury 2 2 - -
Person overboard 1 1 - -
Flooding 1 1 1 1
Onboard incident 1 1 9 10
TOTAL 90 100 90 100
3.3.3 Vessel details
Most serious incidents (96%) involved a single vessel. A high proportion of the vessels involved in
incidents were foreign-owned (n=40, 44%), followed by passenger vessels (Class One) (n=25, 28%), nonpassenger
vessels (Class 2) (n=9, 10%) and fishing vessels (Class 3) (n=9, 10%). There was one mechanically
powered and one sail powered vessel (n=2, 2%). In the remaining cases (n=5, 6%), the vessel type was not
specified.
Data on vessel activity at time of the incident was poorly recorded with only 3 cases (3%) indicating the
activity. One vessel was at anchor, one was on a fishing expedition and the third was racing at the time of
the incident.
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 21

3.3.4 Vessel occupant details, PFD wear
Data on the number of crew and passengers were available for 88 of the 90 vessels. Seventy-four percent
(n=67) of the vessels involved in ‘serious incidents’ carried no crew and 83% (n=75) carried no passengers.
The vessels carrying crew (n=23) carried between 1 and 23 crew members. Fifteen vessels carried
passengers (range 3-100 passengers).
The serious incident report form requires information to be completed on the person in charge of the
vessel and any other persons involved. Data on gender of persons involved showed that 58% were male
and 42% female. Age was given for person involved in 57% of incidents (n=51). The mean age was 52
years (age range 30-71 years).
The licence type held by the person in charge of the vessel involved in the incident was reported for 63%
of incidents. Thirty-seven percent were pilots, 7% were Pilot Exempt Master, 6% were coxswain, 4% were
Master Class 5, 2% were Master Class 4, and 1% was Skipper Grade 2. Two held no boating license (2%).
The person’s ‘activity’ was undefined for 76% of incidents and the ‘role of the person at the helm’ was
‘undefined’ for 99% of incidents. All of 90 incidents were coded to zero (‘0’) for PFD wear.
3.3.5 Seasonal distribution
Figure 2 shows the seasonal pattern of commercial marine incidents, presented separately for ‘response
only’ and ‘serious incidents’. The peak season for serious incidents was Spring (n=29, 32%) followed by
Summer (n=23, 26%). Response only incidents peaked in Autumn (n=16, 33%), due only to a high number
of incidents in May.
Figure 2 Distribution of commercial vessel incidents by month of incident,
Marine Incident Reporting system 2007/8 (n=139)
Jun
May
2
6
8
9
Serious incident (n=90)
Response only (n=49)
Apr
4
4
Mar
3
9
Feb
4
4
Month
Jan
Dec
2
4
9
10
Nov
2
11
Oct
4
13
Sep
5
7
Aug
2
7
Jul
4
6
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Frequency
22

3.3.6 Waterway type, location and environmental conditions
Most commercial ‘serious incidents’ occurred in enclosed waters (61%), followed by inland waters (26%)
and coastal offshore waters (10%). Thirty-three incidents (37%) occurred on Port Phillip Bay, 22 occurred
on the Yarra River (24%), 10 on Corio Bay (11%), 10 in Bass Strait (11%), 9 on the Gippsland Lakes (10%), 3 on
Western Port (3%) and one each on the Maribyrnong River and Lake Nagambie (2%). The location was not
recorded for one case.
Table 3 summarises the weather and water conditions in which ‘serious incidents’ occurred. Water and
environmental conditions were not reported for between 30% and 40% of incidents. Around half of
‘serious incidents’ occurred in clear weather, with good visibility and wind speeds up to 15 knots and 40%
occurred in calm waters.
Table 3
Commercial ‘serious incidents’ by environmental conditions, Marine
Incident Reporting system, 2007/8
N %
Weather
clear 48 53
hazy 3 3
cloudy 7 8
rain 2 2
undefined/unknown 30 33
Water conditions
calm 35 39
choppy 10 11
rough/very rough 5 5
strong current 1 1
undefined/unknown 39 43
Visibility
good 46 51
fair 6 7
poor 5 6
undefined/unknown 33 37
Wind speed
none 4 4
1-8 knots 26 29
9-15 knots 16 18
16-30 knots 7 8
over 30 knots 4 4
undefined/unknown 33 37
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 23

3.3.7 Contributory factors to ‘serious incidents’
Contributory factors were not recorded for 36 serious incidents (40%). Reading of the incident descriptions
revealed that most of these were reports of close quarters incidents in which another vessel, usually
a small craft cut across the bow of or strayed into the path of commercial vessels or were anchored in
shipping fairways.
Seventy-two contributory factors were recorded for the remaining 54 incidents. Unlike ‘response only’
incidents where material factors were the major contributors, serious incidents mostly involved human
factors (n=43, 60%), followed by environmental factors (n=16, 22%) then equipment/material factors
(n=13, 18%).
Table 4 summarises the results of a detailed analysis of contributory factors. Forty-three separate
human factors were implicated in incidents, the most common of which were errors of judgement and
navigational errors. A total of 16 environmental factors were reported, most were linked to the wind or sea
state. Thirteen material factors were reported of which hull failure and electrical faults were most common.
24

Table 4
Factors contributing to commercial ‘serious incidents’, Marine Incident Reporting system
2007/8 (n=72 factors)
N %
Human factors
Errors of judgement 11 15.3
Navigational error 4 5.6
Inexperience 3 4.2
Failure to keep proper lookout 2 2.7
Insecure mooring 2 2.7
Lack of fuel 2 2.7
Lack of maintenance 1 1.4
Alcohol or drugs 1 1.4
Ill health 1 1.4
Other human factor 16 22.2
Sub total 43 59.7
Environmental factors
Wind/sea state 9 12.5
Tidal conditions 2 2.8
Floating or submerged object 2 2.8
Restricted visibility 1 1.3
Other environmental factors 2 2.8
Sub total 16 22.2
Material factors
Hull failure 4 5.6
Electrical equipment 4 5.6
Machinery 2 2.7
Other material factors 3 4.2
Sub-total 13 18.1
TOTAL 72 100.0
3.4 Hospital-treated commercial boating-related injuries recorded on injury
surveillance databases (2006/7)
Ten of the commercial incidents recorded on the MIR system in 2007/8 resulted in injuries (4 ‘serious’
and 6 ‘minor’). Hospital admissions data for 2007/8 are not yet available. The hospital injury surveillance
datasets recorded 17 hospital-treated commercial vessel-related injury cases over the 12-month period
July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007 (4 admissions and 13 ED presentations) compared with 6 injury incidents
recorded on the MIR system over the same period, covered in last year’s marine report.
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 25

3.4.1 Hospital admissions (n=4)
The four hospitalisations recorded on the VAED were all male adults aged between 15 and 34 years.
One worker was injured on a merchant vessel, two others on ‘unspecified craft’ and the fourth on ‘other
powered watercraft’. The causes of injury were: ‘other and unspecified’ water accident (2 cases), accident to
watercraft causing other injury (1 case) and onboard incident not involving craft accident, nor drowning/
submersion (1 case). Recorded primary diagnoses included ruptured anterior cruciate injury (1 case), fibula
fracture near the ankle (2 cases) and fracture of the forearm (1 case).
3.4.2 Hospital emergency department presentations (n=13)
Twelve of the 13 persons (92%) presenting to hospital EDs for commercial boating injury were males.
Presentations were spread across the 5-year age groups from age 15 to age 54 and there was one further
case in age group 70-74. Three ED presentations (23%) were for hand injuries and another three were
for ankle injuries. The other cases presented with shoulder, forearm, wrist, lower leg, multiple injuries or
foreign body in the eye. The primary injury diagnoses were: injury to muscle/tendon (3 cases), crushing
injury (2 cases), then one case each for superficial wounds, fracture, crushing injury, burn/corrosion, foreign
body, other and multiple injuries.
The following injury scenarios were extracted from VEMD case narrative data:
• Hit by boat trailer in chest as it rolled down hill
• Fall from boat (3 metres)
• Crush injury to right thumb when he dropped boat trailer
• Caught hand in boat rope
• Fell down steps on boat
• Pulling boat into harbour, injured shoulder
• Slipped off boat ramp, injured ankle
• 50 kg object (manhole cover) fell on patient, injured shoulder
• Working on fishing boat, cut finger on unknown object 4 days ago
• Injured when pushing a boat
• Sailboat racing, injured finger unsure how
• Captain of paddle steamer injured by boiling water
• Blurred vision, foreign body
26

4. Results: hire/drive vessel incidents
(2007/8)
4.1 Frequency
There were 8 marine incidents involving a hire/drive vessel recorded on the MIR for the 12-month period
July 2007 to June 2008 (Figure 3).
Figure 3 Trend in hire-drive vessel incidents by year, Marine Incident
Reporting system 1999/2000 to 2007/8
20
18
16
14
14
Frequency
12
10
8
8
8
6
4
2
0
2
3
3
199900 200001 200102 200203 200304 200405 200506 200607 200708
Financial year
1
5
2
Source: Marine Incident Reporting system July 1999 to June 2008
Note: Data for 2001/2 were incomplete, estimated frequencies (based on average frequency for same months in previous year) were
used for September and October 2001
4.2 Incident severity
There was no damage in 6 hire/drive incidents (75%), damage to property only in one incident (12.5%) and
other vessel damage in one incident (12.5%).
4.3 Major causes (types) of incidents
Five incidents were due to grounding-unintentional (63%), one was due to a disablement (12.5%), one was
an onboard incident-crushing/pinching (12.5%) and in one case the type of incident was undefined.
4.4 Vessel and occupant details
All were single vessel incidents. Five vessels had passengers on board at the time of the incident (between
1 and 3).
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 27

4.5 Type of water and environmental conditions
Six incidents (75%) occurred in enclosed waters (Gippsland Lakes – Lake King and Lake Victoria) and in two
cases the type of water was not recorded. Visibility was poor in one incident, wind speed over 30 knots in
two incidents, it was raining when one incident occurred and the sea was rough or very rough at the time
of two incidents.
4.6 Contributory factors
In three incidents the primary contributory factor was environmental (wind/sea state) with human factors
also contributing (inexperience, navigational error and insecure mooring). In the other five cases, the
primary contributors were human factors (navigational error, inexperience, lack of boat maintenance and
‘other’) with material factors making a secondary contribution in two cases (equipment-machinery failure
and ‘other’ material factor).
Incidents were described thus:
• Hire boat experiencing difficulties in strong winds, blown on shore, and female occupant injured ankle
when fending off
• Hire yacht grounded, navigational error
• Vessel was tied alongside jetty, jetty bollards and vessel broke as a result of strong winds and vessel
washed ashore on rocks
• Vessel broke mooring and drifted ashore, no damage caused
• Broken down motor on tinny, required tow back to his jetty
• Hire boat broken down due to fuel line disconnecting from tank
• Hire drive vessel ran aground in shallow water
• Hire boat ran aground in soft mud, vessel towed off
28

5. Results: recreational vessel incidents
(2007/8) and hospital-treated boating
injury (2006/7)
5.1 Recreational vessel incidents (2007/8)
There were 1091 recorded recreational vessel incidents on the MIR in 2007/8, up from 913 in 2006/7. The
19% increase is possibly due to better reporting. Figure 4 shows the frequency of marine incidents by
financial year from 1999/2000.
Figure 4 Trend in recreational vessel incidents by year, Marine Incident
Reporting system, 1999/2000 to 2007/8
1200
1000
All recreational incidents
Response only*
Serious incident
913
1091
926
800
741
813
Frequency
600
768
598
762 774
594 589
771 754
606
598
601
729
782
400
200
0
170
168
185
165 156 140
84
131
165
199900 200001 200102 200203 200304 200405 200506 200607 200708
Financial year
Source: Marine Incident Database and Marine Incident Reporting system July 1999 to June 2008
Notes: (1) Data for 2001/2 were incomplete, estimated frequencies (based on average frequency for same months in previous year)
were used for September and October 2001
(2) The ‘response only’ category of recreational vessel incidents for 1999/2000 to 2004/5 includes disablements, overdue vessels
and unspecified incidents. The inclusion criteria changed in 2005/6 with the introduction of the MIR and the ‘response only’
category covered vessel disablements, persons in trouble, false alarms and non-marine incidents. MSV requested that the
‘response only’ category in the 2007/08 report should be restricted to vessel disablements and persons in trouble and false
alarms and non-marine incidents excluded. In this trend graph we have excluded false alarms and non-marine incidents from all
years from 2005/6 for consistency.
In 2007/8, 85% (n=926) of the recreational incidents were ‘response only’ incidents and 15% (n=165) were
‘serious incidents’. Figure 4 shows the frequency by year and category of incident and indicates that
‘response only’ incidents have increased each year from 2004/5. Serious incidents decreased in frequency
from 2001/2 to 2005/6 but in 2007/8 returned to the number reported in 2002/3.
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 29

5.2 Response only incidents (n=926)
Response only incidents cover disablement of vessel and person in trouble. Figure 4 shows the trend in
the frequency of response only incidents over time. In 2007/8 there were 926 response only recreational
vessel incidents reported on the MIR system, an 18% increase on the frequency of incidents that occurred
in 2006/7.
5.2.1 Severity of ‘response only’ incidents
Ninety-six percent (n=886) of ‘response only’ incidents did not result in any damage to property or person,
3% (n=26) resulted in property damage only, 1% (n=10) resulted in other vessel damage and there were
two vessels lost (0.2%).
There was one serious injury incident, classified as response only because the injured person was not
onboard the vessel at the time of the incident:
• 62 year old male was pulled from water unconscious after checking prop on his 30’ cruiser at Flagstaff
Jetty. He was subsequently checked by paramedics and found to be O.K.
5.2.2 Major causes (types) of incidents
Of the 926 ‘response only’ recreational incidents reported in 2007/8, 98% (n=904) were disablements and
3% (n=22) were persons in trouble.
5.2.3 Vessel details
Most ‘response only’ incidents involved mechanically powered vessels (n=856, 92%), followed by sail
powered vessels (n=53, 6%) and human powered vessels (n=9, 1%). Data on power source was missing
for the remaining 8 cases (1%). The type of vessel was recorded for 99% of cases (n=924). Over one-third
of incidents were each related to open boats (40%, n=368) and half-cabin cruisers (38%, n=352), another
12% (n=114) were full-cabin cruisers, 4% (n=32) were yachts (keel boats), 3% (n=23) were PWC and 1%
each involved trailer sailers (n=12) and off-the-beach yachts/catamarans (n=6). The remaining 18 incidents
involved kayaks (n=4), skiboats (3), windsurfers (4), kite (4), rafts (2), tenders (2), and one houseboat, rowing
boat and canoe.
Nearly half (48%) of vessels were 4.8-8m in length, 30% were 0-4.8m in length, 4% were 8-12m in length
and 2% were greater than 12m in length. The vessel length was not recorded for 16% of vessels.
The vessel activity was missing, undefined or unknown for 74% of incidents so recorded data are not
meaningful.
5.2.4 Seasonal distribution
Half the incidents occurred in the 3-month period November to January (late Spring and Summer).
Incidents were lowest in Winter (9%). [Figure 5]
30

Figure 5 Distribution of recreational vessel incidents by month of incident,
Marine Incident Reporting system 2007/8 (n=1,091)
Jun
May
2
7
28
44
Serious incident (n=165)
Response only (n=926)
Apr
12
50
Mar
28
104
Feb
16
58
Month
Jan
Dec
24
28
131
178
Nov
13
154
Oct
12
79
Sep
12
48
Aug
2
33
Jul
9
19
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Frequency
Source: Marine Incident Reporting system 2007/8
5.2.5 Contributory factors
Data on the factors that contributed to the ‘response only’ incident were recorded for 89% of cases
(n=821). Up to 6 contributory factors were recorded per incident and a total of 1,170 separate factors
were identified. Table 5 summarises the contribution made by material, human and environmental
factors to ‘response only’ incidents that occurred in 2007/8. As for commercial ‘response only’ incidents,
material factors made the greatest contribution (61% of factors), followed by human factors (35%) then
environmental factors (4%).
A total of 714 separate material factors were reported across 672 incidents, the most common of which
were machinery failures (62% of material factors, 38% of all factors) and electrical equipment failures (29%
and 18%). Four hundred and thirteen separate human factors were implicated across 345 incidents with
lack of maintenance accounting for nearly half of the human factors (48% of human factors and 17% of all
factors), followed by lack of fuel (21% and 7%), inexperience (12% and 4%) and errors in judgement (9%
and 3%). Environmental factors were least involved. There were 43 separate contributory environmental
factors reported across 40 incidents, almost two-thirds of which were unfavourable sea or wind conditions
(63% of environmental factors, 2% of all factors) and 14% were tidal conditions (0.5% of all factors).
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 31

Table 5
Factors contributing to ‘response only’ recreational vessel incidents, Marine Incident
Reporting system 2007/8 (n=1,170 factors)
N %
Material factors
Machinery 445 38.0
Electrical equipment 210 17.9
Fuel system blockage 24 2.1
Navigational equipment 5 0.4
Rig failure 5 0.4
Hull failure 2 0.2
Inadequate stability 1 0.1
Other material factors 22 1.9
Sub-total 714 61.0
Human factors
Lack of maintenance
Lack of fuel 199 17.0
Inexperience 86 7.4
Error in judgement 51 4.4
Navigational error 37 3.2
Insecure mooring 8 0.7
Fatigue 6 0.5
Failure to keep proper lookout 5 0.4
Alcohol or drugs 3 0.3
Unable to swim 2 0.2
Ill health 2 0.2
Excessive speed 1 0.1
Other human factor 13 1.1
Sub total 413 35.3
Environmental factors
Wind/sea state 27 2.3
Tidal conditions 6 0.5
Restricted visibility 4 0.3
Floating or submerged object 2 0.2
Bar conditions 2 0.2
Wash 1 0.1
Other environmental factors 1 0.1
Sub total 43 3.7
TOTAL 1 170 100.0
32

5.3 Serious incidents (n=165)
There were 165 serious incidents recorded on the MIR system in 2007/8, an increase of 26% on the
previous year (n=131) (Figure 4).
5.3.1 Severity of ‘serious incidents’
Incident severity is captured in two variables: incident severity and injury status. Table 6 shows the results
of a cross tabulation of these variables for recreational ‘serious incidents’. Where data were inconsistent
(i.e. injury status = minor injury and incident severity = serious injury) a hierarchy was implemented
giving priority to personal injury severity (from fatality to minor injury) then property damage (vessel lost,
property damage, no damage).
Table 6
Recreational vessel ‘serious incidents’ by severity and year, Marine Incident Reporting
system 2006/7 and 2007/8
Previous year
2006/7
Current year
2007/8
N % N %
Fatal incident 3* 2 7
(9 deaths)
Missing person 1 1 - -
Serious injury 8 6 9 6
Minor injury 8 6 8 5
Vessel lost, minor injury - - 3 2
Vessel lost, no personal injury 8 6 9 5
Damage to property only, no personal injury 40 31 42 25
Other vessel damage - - 21 13
No damage, no personal injury 63 48 66 40
TOTAL 131 100 165 100
4
Note: *Two additional fatalities (of a boogie boarder and a scuba diver) were recorded under ‘response only’ incidents in 2006/7
Sixty percent of serious recreational vessel incidents in 2007/8 resulted in personal or property damage
compared with 47% in 2006/7 (Table 6). There were 16 fatal and serious injury incidents in 2007/8
compared with 10 (plus one missing person) in 2006/7.
Fatal incidents (n=7, 9 deaths)
There were 7 fatal incidents causing 9 deaths recorded on the MIR system in 2007/8 compared with 5 in
2006/7 (including two fatalities that were recorded as ‘response only’ incidents). Deaths were caused by
drowning (3), impact injuries related to collisions (4) and burns (2). Data from the MIR system allows a case
summary for each fatal incident to be developed:
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 33

• A half cabin cruiser (vessel length 5.9m.) with 3 persons on board was operating inward across the
Kate Kearney’s bar against the tide. The vessel had experienced engine failure and was operating on
its auxiliary outboard. The vessel did not have the speed to push against the tide and was swamped
by following waves. A child passenger, wearing a PFD, drowned. Contributory factors to the incident
included bar conditions and machinery failure.
• A half cabin cruiser (vessel length 5.4m.) with two persons on board was travelling in an easterly
direction up Cunningham Arm (Lakes Entrance) when it collided with a special marker (Compass Pile) at
considerable speed. The bow was extensively damaged. Recorded contributory factors were restricted
visibility, excessive speed and failure to keep a proper lookout. Neither decedent was wearing a PFD.
Their BAC levels were unknown.
• A 6.1m.powered open boat carrying two adults and five children collided with another vessel. One
of the children on board, a five-year-old, was killed. Recorded contributory factors were error of
judgement, excessive speed and failure to keep a proper lookout. All children on board the vessel were
wearing PFDs.
• A 5.4m. half cabin cruiser with one person on board (a male aged 40) launched from Werribee and
was due back at midday. It was reported overdue. An overnight search conducted by police and
coastguard vessels was unsuccessful as was an aerial and sea search in daylight. In the same afternoon
a body was located by a private recreational vessel which was identified as the missing vessel operator.
No contributory factors were recorded. The deceased was wearing a PFD. His BAC level was unknown.
• The deceased, a 43 year old male on a 5m open powered vessel, was ejected from the vessel at high
speed whilst competing in an Australian Power Boat Association event at Carrum. He died from injuries
sustained on impact with water. Five contributory factors were recorded, two environmental and three
human: floating or submerged object, wash, error of judgement, excessive speed and inexperience. He
was wearing a PFD. His BAC level was unknown.
• A small (4.9m) powered recreational vessel was located with no person in it (it is unclear from the report
if the occupant was reported missing). Water surface and land search along the river failed to find vessel
occupant (a male aged 31). His body was eventually located at the bottom of the river, close to the
vessel. The cause of the incident was believed to be a combination of moderate speed and instability.
Recorded contributory factors were: inexperience, unable to swim and inadequate stability. He was not
wearing a PFD. His BAC level was 0.00.
• There was an explosion and fire on a 12m powered cabin cruiser when the vessel was refuelling at Pier
35 marina. Two persons were killed and 3 persons were injured. Recorded contributory factors were
electrical equipment failure and ‘other material factor’. No details were given of age and gender of
deceased. BAC level of deceased was unknown.
Serious injury incidents (n=9)
Nine serious injury incidents (leading to 11 serious injuries) were reported on the MIR system in 2007/8,
one more incident than in 2006/7, compared with 20 in 2005/6. Serious injury incidents are underreported
on the MIR (as they were on the MID) when frequencies are compared with recreational boating
hospital admissions recorded on the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (see section 5.4.2), because
many injurious incidents are not reported to the Water Police.
34

The serious injury incidents occurred in the following circumstances:
• Two operators of PWC were injured when their vessels collided. They were friends doing ‘360s’ together
and their PWCs collided when coming out of a spin. Contributory factors: error of judgement, excessive
speed, failure to keep proper lookout and inexperience. Both wearing PFD. BAC levels unknown.
• A 46 year-old PWC operator was injured when he veered off course for an unknown reason and
collided with a tree protruding from water (part of island in the centre of Lake Narracan). Contributory
factors: error of judgement, excessive speed and failure to keep proper lookout. Operator not wearing a
PFD. BAC level: 0.00.
• A 53 year-old kneeboarder, travelling backwards on board and on 12m of rope, moved outside wake
and collided with jetty. He sustained femur and other fractures. The vessel operator was unlicensed
and the 5.8m. open vessel was exceeding 5kts within 50m. of the jetty. Contributory factors: error of
judgement, excessive speed, failure to keep proper lookout and ‘other human factors’. He was wearing
PFD. BAC level unknown.
• A ski boat (5.5m. in length) about to commence water skiing session pushed out from bank and
exploded on starting. Two male occupants suffered serious burns. Contributory factors: equipment
failure (machinery) and other material factors. Neither was wearing a PFD. BAC level: undefined.
• The male operator of a V8 jetboat failed to take a bend and the jetboat ran onto the bank, possibly
clipping an exposed tyre and flipped. A fuel leak caused a fire and the operator suffered first degree
burns. Contributory factors: error of judgement and ‘other material factors’. Both vessel occupants were
wearing PFD. BAC level 0.00.
• A 5.2m. open vessel under motor collided with an anchored vessel. No detail of injuries to occupant.
Contributory factors: error of judgement, failure to keep a proper lookout. Occupant was not wearing
PFD. BAC level unknown.
• A half-cabin vessel (6m. in length) under tow coming in to berth. The towing vessel suddenly
accelerated which catapulted the operator out of the towed (?) vessel and the vessel turned over and
capsized trapping a female passenger underneath. The female was extricated with the assistance of
a forklift and was revived with the application of CPR. Contributory factors: Error of judgement and
inexperience. BAC level: 0.00. The female was not wearing a PFD.
• A male fell out of his open vessel and was struck by the propeller inflicting severe lacerations.
Contributory factors: none recorded. He was not wearing a PFD. BAC level unknown.
• Report of a 59 year-old man having a heart attack on a 4.1m. open vessel 100m off Williamstown
Football Ground. Contributory factor: Ill health
5.3.2 Major causes (types) of incidents
Grounding (36%), capsizing (18%) and collision (13%) were the leading causes of ‘serious incidents’ in
2007/8 (Table 7). While the ranking of the top 2 causes is similar to 2006/7, a lesser proportion of incidents
were due to these causes than in the previous year. There were more than 5 times as many collision
incidents and four times as many fire incidents in 2007/8 compared to 2006/7.
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 35

Table 7
Recreational vessel ‘serious incidents’ by type (cause) of incident, Marine Incident
Reporting system 2006/7 and 2007/8
INCIDENT TYPE
Previous year
2006/7
Current year
2007/8
N % N %
SERIOUS INCIDENT
Grounding 61 47 60 36
Capsizing 28 21 29 18
Swamping/sinking 10 8 14 8
Loss or presumed loss of vessel 7 5 5 3
Person overboard 6 5 7 4
Flooding 4 3 10 6
Onboard incident 4 3 1 1
Collision 4 3 22 13
-with another vessel 3 14 8
-submerged object - 4 2
-fixed object 1 3 2
-floating object - 1 1
Other personal injury 3 2 - -
-hit by vessel or propeller 2
-skiing injury -
-parasailing injury 1
-other -
Fire 3 2 13 8
Loss of stability 1 1 - -
Explosion - - 2 1
Structural failure - - 1 1
GRAND TOTAL 131 100 165 100
36

5.3.3 Vessel details
Over three-quarters of recreational vessels involved in ‘serious incidents’ were mechanically powered (77%,
n=127), 20% were powered by sail (n=33) and 2% were human powered (n=3). The vessel type was not
given for 2 incidents.
Figure 6 shows the specific type of vessel involved in the ‘serious incidents’. More than one-quarter of
‘serious incidents’ involved open boats (26%), followed by full cabin cruisers (22%), half cabin cruisers (19%),
yachts – keel boats (12%) and PWC (8%). Data on the type of vessel was missing for 2% of vessels in 2007/8
compared with almost one quarter of ‘serious incidents’ in 2006/7.
Figure 6 Frequency of recreational vessel ‘serious incidents’ by type of vessel, Marine Incident
Reporting system 2007/8
Missing (n=2), 1 per cent
Houseboat (n=1), 1 per cent
Kayak (n=1), 1 per cent
Canoe (n=1), 1 per cent
Tender (n=2), 1 per cent
Trailer Sailer (n=3), 2 per cent
Yacht/Catamaran (off the beach)(n=11), 7 per cent
Personal Water Craft (n=13), 8 per cent
Open boat (n=43),
25 per cent
Yacht (Keel Boat)(n=19),
12 per cent
Cabin Cruiser (n=37),
22 per cent
Half cabin (n=32),
19 per cent
Source: Marine Incident Reporting system 2007/8
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 37

Vessel length was known for 122 of the 165 vessels (74%) and lengths ranged from 2.7m to 38.0m. Twentytwo
percent of vessels were 4.8m or less in length, 38% measured 4.8-8.0m, 15% measured 8-12m and 6%
were longer than 12m.
Over one third of vessels (35%) were cruising when the ‘serious incident’ occurred (Table 8). Incidents
also commonly occurred in fishing (19%), when the vessel was at anchor (13%) and during sailing (n=20,
15%). Compared with incidents in 2006/7, a greater proportion occurred when the vessel was at anchor
and a lesser proportion in yachting. Twelve percent of data were not coded for activity in the current year,
compared with 10% in 2006/7 and 38% in 2005/6.
Table 8
Recreational vessel ‘serious incidents’ by vessel activity and year, Marine Incident
Reporting system 2006/7 and 2007/8
Previous year
2006/7
Current year
2007/8
N % N %
Cruising 42 32 57 34
Fishing 24 18 31 19
At anchor 11 8 21 13
Sailing 20 15 13 8
Transiting 7 5 9 5
Waterskiing or related activity 4 3 5 3
Performing manoeuvres 7 5 4 2
Diving 1 1 1 1
Performing maintenance 1 1 1 1
Racing 1 1 3 2
Missing 13 10 20 12
TOTAL 131 100 165 100
5.3.4 Vessel occupant details, PFD wear
In 44% of ‘serious incidents’ (n=73) the number of persons onboard the vessel/s was reported as zero. The
remaining 92 vessels carried 229 persons, an average of 2.5 persons per vessel (range 1-10 persons), with
most vessels (n=75) carrying between 1 and 3 people.
Overall, 45% of recreational vessel occupants involved in serious incidents were recorded as wearing PFD,
compared with 62% in 2006/7. The wear rate for persons on vessels up to and including 4.8m in length
was 58% (26/45), for vessels over 4.8m in length the wear rate was 45% (69/152) and for vessels of an
unspecified length the wear rate was 28% (9/32) (Table 9). There were 9 solo operators on vessels over
4.8m in length, one-third reportedly wearing a PFD at the time of the ‘serious incident’.
38

Table 9
Recreational vessel ‘serious incidents’ by grouped vessel length and PFD wear, Marine
Incident Reporting system 2007/8
Variable
VESSEL LENGTH
4.8m Unspecified
length
All vessels
Total number of vessels 37 95 33 165
Number of vessels for which the
26 54 12 92
number of persons on board was
recorded
Total number of persons onboard
45 152 32 229
these vessels
Number of persons wearing a PFD
26 69 9 104
on these vessels
PFD wear rate 58% 45% 28% 45%
The serious incident report form requires information on age, gender, activity and role to be completed on
the person in charge of the vessel and any other persons involved. As in previous years, these data are
poorly reported. Data on age and gender of persons on board were recorded for only 67 incidents (40%).
The person’s ‘activity’ and helm operator’s ‘role’ on the vessel was completed for even fewer cases, 23% and
1% of ‘serious incidents’ respectively.
The operators licence status was missing or undefined for 64% of incidents compared with 69% in 2006/7.
Fifty-seven vessel operators (35%) held a current Recreational Boat Operators Licence. One operator had
surrendered his licence and another was a disqualified operator.
5.3.5 Seasonal distribution
Figure 5 (in section 5.2.4) shows the seasonal pattern of recreational marine incidents, presented separately
for ‘response only’ and ‘serious incidents’. The frequency of serious incidents was higher in December
(14.5%), January (17%) and March (17%) than in other months of the year. There were few incidents in the
4-month period May to August (12% in all).
5.3.6 Type of water and environmental conditions
Recreational serious incidents mostly occurred in enclosed waters (73%), followed by coastal offshore
waters (12%) and inland waters (10%). Thirty-seven percent of reported ‘serious incidents’ occurred on Port
Phillip (n=61). Other common locations were Gippsland Lakes (n=28, 17%), Bass Strait (n=19, 11%) and
Western Port (n=18, 11%).
Table 10 summarises the weather and water conditions in which ‘serious incidents’ involving recreational
vessels occurred. Water and environmental conditions were not reported for between 11% and 20% of
incidents. Most serious incidents occurred in clear weather with good visibility and wind speeds up to 8
knots. High proportions of swamping (62%), capsizing (50%) and vessel loss (60%) incidents occurred in
choppy, rough or very rough water conditions.
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 39

Table 10 Recreational ‘serious incidents’ by environmental conditions, Marine
Incident Reporting system 2007/8
N %
Weather
clear 119 72
hazy 8 5
cloudy 15 9
rain 5 3
undefined/unknown 18 11
Water conditions
calm 88 53
choppy 44 27
rough 8 5
very rough 6 4
strong current 2 1
undefined/unknown 17 10
Visibility
good 118 72
fair 16 10
poor 6 4
undefined/unknown 25 15
Wind speed
none 18 11
1-8 knots 57 35
9-15 knots 37 22
16-30 knots 10 6
over 30 knots 10 6
undefined/unknown 33 20
5.3.7 Contributory factors to recreational serious incidents
Contributory factors were recorded for 90% of recreational vessel incidents (n=148). Up to 9 contributory
factors were recorded per incident, with 322 separate factors recorded. Table 11 summarises the results
of the detailed analysis of contributory factors. Unlike ‘response only’ incidents where equipment and
material factors were the major contributors, serious incidents most commonly involved human factors
(n=208, 65%), followed by environmental factors (n=61, 19%) then material factors (n=53, 17%).
As shown in Table 11, 208 human factors were implicated in 115 incidents, the most common of which
were errors of judgement, inexperience, failure to keep proper lookout and navigational errors. A
total of 61 separate environmental factors were reported across 49 incidents, most commonly sea or
wind conditions, followed by tidal and bar conditions. Last, 53 separate material factors were reported
across 46 incidents, most commonly machinery failure, followed by inadequate stability then electrical
equipment failure.
40

Table 11 Factors contributing to recreational ‘serious incidents’, Marine Incident Reporting system
2007/8 (n=322 factors)
N %
Human factors
Error in judgement 83 25.8
Inexperience 39 12.1
Failure to keep proper lookout 19 5.9
Navigational error 18 5.6
Insecure mooring 8 2.5
Alcohol or drugs 3 0.9
Excessive speed 12 3.7
Lack of maintenance 6 1.9
Unable to swim 2 0.6
Fatigue 3 0.9
Ill health 2 0.6
Lack of fuel 2 0.6
Overloading 1 0.3
Other human factor 10 3.1
Sub total 208 64.6
Environmental factors
Wind/sea state 23 7.1
Tidal conditions 12 3.8
Bar conditions 10 3.1
Restricted visibility 4 1.2
Floating or submerged object 3 0.9
Wash 3 0.9
Other environmental factors 6 1.9
Sub total 61 18.9
Material factors
Machinery 20 6.2
Inadequate stability 8 2.5
Electrical equipment 7 2.2
Hull failure 5 1.6
Rig failure 2 0.6
Inadequate buoyancy 3 0.9
Other material factors 8 2.5
Sub-total 53 16.5
TOTAL 322 100
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 41

5.4 Fatalities and hospital-treated recreational boating-related
injuries 2006/7
There were two boating-related drowning fatalities recorded on the National Coroners Information
System (NCIS) and 902 hospital-treated recreational boating injury cases (223 admissions and 679 ED
presentations, non admissions) recorded on hospital injury surveillance databases over the period July
2006 to June 2007. MIR system data for 2006/7 (reported last year) showed 3 fatal and
5.4.1 Deaths (n=3)
Fatality data analysed here are for cases recorded in 2006/7, whereas MIR fatalities reported earlier are for
2007/8. Fatality data were sourced from the NCIS.
According to the NCIS there were three recreational boating-related injury fatalities in Victoria in 2006/7,
the same number as in 2005/6. All three deaths were fishers, one drowned after falling into the water from
a powered half-cabin vessel when putting out craypots, another had a heart attack and fell into the water
and drowned and the third was found dead in the water with his life jacket and some fishing line tangled
around his wrist. None was wearing a PFD when retrieved from the water.
The same three deaths were recorded on the MIR system in 2006/7 and were included in MUARC’s last
report. The other two deaths recorded on the MIR system in 2006/7 were recreational vessel ‘response
only’ incidents – the drowning deaths of a boogie boarder and a scuba diver – and are not ‘in scope’ for
boating related injury deaths on the NCIS.
The circumstances of the three boating-related fatalities recorded on the NCIS for 2006/7 were as follows.
A common recorded contributory factor to all the fatal incidents was non-wearing of PFD.
• The deceased, a 57 year-old male, and a friend were fishing in a 4.9m half cabin cruiser. Neither was
wearing a Personal Flotation Device (PFD). Whilst putting out some clay pots, the deceased fell into the
water. The friend tried to assist, however a wave hit the boat on he side, causing it to roll. The friend
was thrown into the water. The friend was rescued but the deceased was not. The Coroner indicated
that it was likely that had the deceased been wearing a PFD, he would not have drowned.
• The deceased, a 32 year-old male, was fishing in a small boat approximately one km off shore. He
was seen by witnesses to be doubling over, was heard to make an unusual loud noise and then fell
into the water. He was not wearing a PFD. Witnesses found the deceased motionless and face down
in the water. The Coroner indicated that, had the deceased been wearing a PFD, there is a chance
that the outcome may have been different. Death was attributed to coronary artery arthrosclerosis in
circumstances suggestive of drowning.
• The deceased, a 73 year-old male, left his home to go fishing (a regular pastime) in his 5.5m. timber
boat. When he did not return home, a search was conducted. The boat was located about 800 metres
off shore with the lights on and anchor up. The engine was idling in neutral. The deceased was found
in the water, floating on his back. A life jacket was tangled around his wrist.
42

5.4.2 Hospital-treated injury (n=902 cases)
Over the 12-month period July 2006 to June 2007, there were 223 hospital admissions and 679 ED
presentations (non-admissions) for boating-related sport and recreational injuries recorded on the VAED
and the VEMD respectively. This represents a 5% decrease in the number of hospital treated injuries
recorded in 2005/6. Broken down by severity, there was a 9% decrease in VAED cases (hospitalisations) and
a 7% decrease in VEMD cases (ED presentations, non-admissions). This follows several years of increases
(31% from 2004/5 to 2005/6 and 36% from 2003/4 to 2004/5).
Table 12 compares the pattern of injury for admissions and ED presentations (non-admissions); the key
points are as follows:
• Males were grossly over-represented in both admissions and ED presentations, accounting for 74% of all
hospital-treated recreational boating injury cases. This is probably related to their higher participation
rate in recreational boating sports.
• Age groups 15-29 and 30-34 years accounted for 35% and 29% of admissions and 41% and 26% of ED
presentations, respectively, for boating-related injury in 2006/7. This is most likely related to the higher
participation of these two age groups in boating-related sports and recreational activities.
• Hospital-treated injury cases mostly occurred in water skiing, wakeboarding and inflatable riding
(41% of admissions and 44% ED presentations), general boating (15% of admissions and 36% ED
presentations) and PWC riding (13% of admissions and 8% of ED presentations).
• The major specific causes of injury were: falls (24% of admissions and 32% of ED presentations) and hit/
struck/crush injuries involving objects (13% of admissions and 32% of ED presentations). There were 9
non-fatal drowning/submersion hospital-treated cases in 2006/7 compared with 22 in 2005/6.
• The lower extremity was the most commonly injured body site for both admissions and presentations,
accounting for 32% of all hospital treated injury, followed by the upper extremity (25%) and head/face/
neck (22%).
• Forty-four percent of admissions were fracture cases, most commonly knee and lower leg fractures
(29% of fracture cases). Dislocations/sprains/strains were the next most frequent type of injury (13%,
mostly shoulder dislocations). Among ED presentations, open wounds (26%) and sprains/strains (21%)
were common injuries.
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 43

Table 12 Pattern of hospital-treated recreational boating injury,
Victoria July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007 (n=902 cases)
Hospital–treated recreational boating injury
Characteristics Admissions (VAED) ( n = 223) ED Presentations (VEMD) (n = 679)
Gender • male (78%) • male (73%)
• female (27%) • female (27%)
Age group in years • 0-14 (5%) • 0-14 (11%)
Activity/ Watercraft
• 15-29 (35%) • 15-29 (40%)
• 30-44 (29%) • 30-44 (26%)
• 45-59 (21%) • 45-59 (16%)
• 60+ (11%) • 60+ (7%)
• Water skiing and other towed sports
{41% mostly waterskiing and
wakeboarding (95%) and inflatable
riding (5%)}
• Personal Watercraft (jet ski) (13%)
• Windsurfing/kitesurfing (9%)
• Yachting and sailing (7%)
• Fishing from a boat (8%)
• Passenger craft (3%)
• Canoeing/kayaking (2%)
• Rafting (2%)
• Rowing/sculling (0.4%)
• Surfboating (0.4)
• Unspecified boating (15%)
• Water skiing and other towed sports
{44% mostly water skiing (63%),
wakeboarding (18%), inflatable
riding (8%), kneeboarding (7%)}
• Boating {36% mostly not further
specified (93%), houseboat (5%),
power boating (3%)}
• Personal Watercraft (8%)
• Sailing (5%)
• Fishing from boat (1%)
• Canoe/kayaking (2%)
• Windsurfing (2%)
• Kite surfing (1%)
• Rowing (1%)
• Rafting (0.3%)
Cause • Fall (24%)
• On-board incident (22%)
• Hit/struck/crush (13%)
• Accident to craft (7%)
• Overexertion (5%)
• Near drowning/submersion (4%)
• Cutting/piercing (1%)
• Other/unspecified (25%)
• Falls (32%)
• Struck by/collision with object
(32%)
• Cutting/piercing (7%)
• Transport (3%)
• Struck by/collision with person (4%)
• Machinery (1%)
• Other/unspecified (21%)
44

Hospital–treated recreational boating injury continued
Characteristics Admissions (VAED) n = 244 ED Presentations (VEMD) n = 703
Body site injured
Nature of injury
• Lower extremity {32% mostly knee/
lower leg (63% of lower extremity
injuries) and hip/thigh (24%)}
• Upper extremity {22%, mostly
shoulder/upper arm (45% of upper
extremity injuries) and wrist/hand
(33%)}
• Head/neck {23%: head (69%), neck
(31%)}
• Trunk {18%: abdomen/lower back/
lumbar spine (51%) and thorax
(49%)}
• Other/unspecified/missing (6%)
• Fractures {44%, mostly knee/ lower
leg (29% of fractures), head (13%),
wrist/hand (12%), and thorax (10%)
• Dislocations/sprain/strain {13%,
mostly shoulder/upper arm (41%),
knee/lower leg (24%)}
• Open wound {7%, mostly knee/
lower leg (33%) and head (27%)}
• Injury to muscle/tendon (6%)
• Intracranial (5%)
• Injury to internal organs (4%)
• Superficial (2%)
• Injury to nerves/spinal cord (2%)
• Traumatic amputation (0.4%)
• Other/unspecified/missing (17%)
• Lower extremity {32%: foot (25%),
lower leg (22%), knee (21%) and
ankle (20%)}
• Upper extremity {26%: hand incl.
fingers (34%), shoulder (26%), wrist
(14%) and forearm (13%)}
• Head, eyes, face and neck {22%
mostly head (45%) and face (41%)}
• Trunk (11%, mostly thorax (65%))
• Other/unspecified (9%)
• Open wound {26%: face (28%),
head (25%), lower leg (12%), foot
(10%), and hand (9%)}
• Sprain/strain {21%: ankle (15%),
thorax (15%), foot (8%), wrist (7%)
and neck (7%)}
• Fracture {13%: foot/toe (21%),
hand/finger (18%); ankle (11%) and
thorax (11%)}
• Superficial (10%)
• Muscle/tendon (9%)
• Dislocation (4%)
• Foreign body (3%)
• Intracranial (2%)
• Crushing injury (2%)
• Other/unspecified/missing (11%)
Source: Hospital admissions: Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED)
Hospital emergency department presentations (non-admissions): Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD)
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 45

5.4.2.1 Hospital admissions (n =223)
Figure 7 shows the trend (rate per 100,000 population) for recreational boating-related injury hospital
admissions from July 1999 to June 2007. Reliable and comprehensive participation data are not available
to form the denominator. The general trend upward is most probably due to injury surveillance data
system improvements.
The annual frequency of admissions for recreational boating-related injuries showed a steady upward
trend over the 6-year period from 1999/2000 to 20005/06 (from an average of 100 cases per year over
the 3-year period 1999/2000 to 2001/2 to 244 cases in 2005/06). In 2006/7, the annual frequency of
admissions reduced to 223. This may be a result of deteriorating case capture following the finish of
the MSV-funded hospital-treated boating injury call back study. Of the 223 hospitalisations, 100 (44%)
were recorded under the water transport cause of injury codes and 127 (57%) under the expanded
activity codes.
Figure 7 Trend in the frequency and rate (per 100,000 population) of recreational boating-related
hospital admissions by year, Victoria 1999/2000 to 2006/2007
250
200
Frequency
Rate per 100,000 population
6.0
5.0
Frequency
150
100
50
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
Rate per 100,000 population
0
199900 200001 200102 200203 200304 200405 200506 200607
Financial year
0.0
Source: Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED)
Figure 8 shows injury admission rates (per 100,000 population) by age and gender. Rates were higher for
males than females in most 5-year age groups, with the exception of 10-14 year olds where the female
rate was slightly higher than the male rate. The highest rates for boating-related injury admissions were
observed in males aged 20-24 years, 30-34 years and 25-29 years (13.2, 12.4 and 11.5 admissions per
100,000 male population, respectively). We cannot conclude that males are at higher absolute risk of
serious injury in boating-related recreational activities than females because available participation data
indicate that male exposure to boating activities is much higher than females (SRV, 2003).
46

Figure 8 Rate of recreational boating-related hospital admissions per 100,000
population by age and gender, Victoria July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007
(n=223)
14
12
Rate per 100,000 population
10
8
6
4
Male
Female
2
0
0–4 5–9 10–14 15–19 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45–49 50–54 55–59 60–64 65–69 70–74 75–79 80–84 85+
Age group
Source: Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED)
The major causes (mechanisms), body sites injured and the nature of injury are shown in Table
12. Falls (24%), onboard incidents (22%) and hit/struck/crush (13%) were the leading causes of admissions.
The major injury diagnosis was fracture (44%), most frequently affecting the knee/lower leg (29% of
fracture cases), head (13%) wrist/hand (12%) and thorax (10%). Dislocation/sprain/strain accounted for
13% of injury diagnoses, most commonly affecting the shoulder/upper arm (41% of dislocation/sprain/
strain injury cases). Overall, the most common specific injury was fracture of the lower leg/knee (13% of all
hospital admissions).
Fifty-nine percent of hospital admitted cases had a length of stay of less than 2 days, 32% stayed 2-7 days,
8% stayed 8-30 days and 1% (n= 2 cases) stayed more than 30 days.
Table 13 shows the length of stay in hospital by water craft/activity type.
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 47

Table 13 Recreational boating-related injury admissions by water craft/activity type and length of
hospital stay, Victoria July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007 (n=223)
Length of stay (days)

Figure 9 Frequency of recreational boating-related injury ED presentations (non-admissions) by
age and sex, Victoria July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007 (n=679)
90
80
70
Frequency
60
50
40
Male
Female
30
20
10
0
0–4 5–9 10–14 15–19 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45–49 50–54 55–59 60–64 65–69 70–74 75–79 80+
Age group
Source: Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD)
Results of other analyses are summarised in Table 12. Falls and collisions with objects (both 32%) were
the major causes of ED presentations. Open wounds (26%) and sprains and strains (21%) were the most
frequent injury diagnoses and the lower extremity (32%) and upper extremity (26%) the most common
body regions injured.
The most common specific injuries among ED presentations were open wound to the face or head
(14% of all recreational boating-related injury ED presentations), shoulder dislocation and ankle sprains
(each 3%).
5.5 Ranking of recreational boating-related activities for injury
The boating-related recreational activities most frequently related to fatalities and hospital-treated
injury are shown in Table 14, ranked on injury frequency. The ranking is tentative because case
frequency data for hospital admissions and ED presentations underestimate the size of the problem due
to under-reporting.
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 49

Table 14 Provisional ranking of boating-related recreational activities based on frequency of
fatalities and hospital-treated injury cases, Victoria July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007
Deaths
(NCIS)
(n=2)
Hospital
Admissions
(VAED)
(n=223)
ED
presentations 1
(VEMD)
(n=679
N % N % N %
1. Water skiing and other towed sports - - 91 41 297 44
2. Motor boating/boating unspecified - - 41 18 238 35
3. Personal Water Craft (PWC) riding - - 29 13 51 8
4. Sailing - - 16 7 37 5
5. Wind/Kite surfing - - 19 9 20 3
6. Fishing from a boat 3 100 17 (2) 8 11 2
Source: National Coroner’s Information System, Victorian Office (fatalities), VAED (hospital admissions) and VEMD (ED presentations)
Note:
(1) ED presentations data underestimate the size of the problem because identification of cases relies on specific information on
activity being included in text narratives, which vary in quality by hospital
(2) Admissions for ‘fishing from a boat’ are underestimated as the activity coding does not disaggregate fishing from a boat from
other fishing. Only 17 cases were identifiable as fishing from a boat based on the fact that their activity code was fishing and
they attracted one of the ‘Water transport accident’ external cause of injury codes.
5.5.1 Towed water sports (n=388)
Towed water sports include water skiing, wake or knee boarding, and riding on inflatables (tubes, biscuits
etc). Coding issues in both hospital datasets results in underestimation of cases.
In the VAED (the hospital admissions dataset) waterskiing, wakeboarding and ski boarding cases are
grouped together under the one sports activity code ‘Waterskiing’ and cases cannot be disaggregated. The
VAED coding manual does not specify where kneeboarding should be classified. Tubing is classified with
water sliding under the ‘other specified individual water sport’ code and cases cannot be disaggregated.
Ninety-one admissions in 2006/7 attracted a towed water sport code.
ED presentations are selected by text searching VEMD case narrative data. The quality of cases narratives
varies across the 38 hospitals that contribute data. The text search identified 297 cases.
There were 388 hospital-treated injuries related to towed water sports in 2006/7 (91 admissions and 297
presentations) compared with 372 in 2005/6 (81 admissions and 291 ED presentations). The trend from
1999/2000 to 2007/8 is shown in Figure 10.
50

Figure 10 Trend in the frequency of hospital-treated towed water sports injury, Victoria July 1999
to June 2007
350
291
297
300
Admissions
Presentations
250
Frequency
200
150
191
242
100
118
122
137
140
74
93
81
91
50
0
33
15 17
49
199900 200001 200102 200203 200304 200405 200506 200607
Financial year
Sources: Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED) and Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD)
In 2006/7, the peak age group for towed water sports hospital-treated injury cases was persons aged 20-24
year (Figure 11), followed by persons aged 15-19 (Figure 11).
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 51

Figure 11
Hospital-treated towed water sports injury by age group, Victoria July 1, 2006 to
June 30, 2007 (n=388)
Percentage of admissions and presentations
25
20
15
10
5
0
Admissions (n=91)
Presentations (n=297)
5–9 10–14 15–19 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45–49 50–54 55–59
Age group
Sources: Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED) and Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD)
5.5.1.1 Hospital admissions (n =91)
In 2006/7, towed water sports accounted for 41% of all admissions for recreational boating-related injuries.
There were 91 admissions for towed water sports in 2006/7 (86 of which were related to water skiing and
wakeboarding) resuming the upward trend evident from 1999/2000 to 2004/5 (Figure 10).
Males were over represented (77%). The age groups with higher injury frequency were 20-24 year olds
(23%), followed by 15-19 years olds (19%) and 30-34 year olds (15%).
Injuries were mostly to the lower extremity (34%) and head and face (22%). Injuries to the upper extremity
(25%) and the trunk (12%) accounted for most of the remaining cases. Thirty-five percent of towed water
sport admissions were fractures and 21% were dislocations, sprains and strains. The most common specific
injuries were knee and lower leg fractures (11%), shoulder and upper arm dislocation/sprain/strain (9%),
knee and lower leg dislocation/sprain/strain (7%).
Sixty-eight percent of towed water sport injury cases stayed in hospital less than 2 days, 24% stayed 2-7
days and 8% stayed 8-30 days.
The major causes of injury were: falls (44%), hit/struck/crush (11%), and over exertion (9%). The VAED
does not provide any detail of the circumstances of the injury. However, analysis of case narrative data
for admissions recorded on the VEMD (n = 29) provided some more information on the circumstances of
injury. Injury scenarios included the following:
52

• Waterskiing: arm caught in rope, rope burn to arm, degloving injury to foot from ski rope, whiplash to
neck, hit a tree, hit a branch, water in eye and lost corneal transplant, boat ran over legs, fell, ‘accident at
160k/h’.
• Wakeboarding: fell from wakeboard, fell fracturing hip, struck by boat propeller, twisted foot
• Kneeboarding: fell off kneeboard, skied into boat, collided with stationary houseboat
• Towed inflatable: fell off sea biscuit, fell on tube and struck nose on sibling’s knee
5.5.1.2 Hospital ED presentations (non-admissions) (n = 297)
Forty-one percent of the recreational boating-related injury ED presentations in 2006/7 were associated
with water skiing and related towed water sports, the same proportion as in 2005/6. There were 6 more
towed water sport injury presentations in 2006/7, compared with the previous year (Figure 10). Sixty-three
percent (n=188) of ED presentations for towed water sports injuries were related to water skiing; a further
18% (n=54) to wakeboarding, 7% to kneeboarding and 12% (n=36) to biscuit and inflatable tube riding.
Overall, 76% of ED presentations were male. Males were over-represented in ED presentations for all
towed water sports activities but not to the same degree: waterskiing (80% male), wakeboarding (78%);
kneeboarding (65%); and inflatable riding (54%).
Overall, the 5-year age group with the highest frequency of injury was persons aged 20-24 years (23%),
followed by persons aged 15-19 (21%) (Figure 12). This pattern was evident in three of the four water
sports. Injured kneeboarders tended to be older, with 25-29 year olds ranking second on frequency of
ED presentations.
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 53

Figure 12
ED presentations for towed water sports injury by age group, Victoria July 1, 2006 to
June 30, 2007 (n=388)
45
40
35
Frequency
30
25
20
waterskiing
wakeboarding
kneeboarding
towed inflatable riding
15
10
5
0
5–9 10–14 15–19 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45–49 50–54 55–59
Age group
Source: Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD)
The lower extremity was the most frequently injured body region (31%), mostly the knee (9% of all ED
presentations for towed watersport injuries), foot (6%) and ankle (7%). Other commonly injured body
regions were the head/face/neck [28%, mostly the face (12% of all ED presentations for towed water sport
injuries) and head (11%)] and the lower extremity [25%, mostly the forearm (5% of all ED presentations for
towed water sport injuries) and the hand including fingers (also 5%)].
Sprains and strains accounted for 26% of ED presentations, followed by open wounds (23%), fractures
(14%) and injuries to the muscles and tendons (13%). The most frequently occurring specific injuries were
open wounds to the face/head (17% of towed water sport presentations), knee sprain/strain (4%), ankle
sprain/strain (4%), and shoulder dislocation (4%).
Analysis of coded and narrative data showed that falls (34%, mostly due to impact with water) and struck
by/collision with an object (33%, mainly hit by the ski, ski rope or ski handle) were the major causes
of injuries.
54

5.5.2 Motor boating and boating not specified (n=279)
There were 41 hospital admissions and 238 ED presentations for injuries that occurred in recreational
motor boating and ‘other’ recreational boating. The type of vessel involved in these injury incidents is not
recorded on the VAED or well recorded on the VEMD.
5.5.2.1 Hospital admissions (n = 41)
Motor boating and general boating (not specified) cases accounted for 18% of all hospital admissions for
recreational boating-related injuries. Males were over-represented in cases (70%). Admissions peaked in
45-49 year olds (20%), followed by 60-64 year olds (15%) then 40-44 year olds (10%).
Injuries were most commonly to the lower extremity (34%), followed by the trunk (22%), the upper
extremity (20%) and the head/face/neck (15%). Fractures accounted for 59% of hospitalisations, followed
by dislocation/sprain/strain (10%), injury to muscle or tendon (7%) and open wounds (5%). The most
common specific injuries were: lower knee and lower leg fracture (20%), rib fracture (10%) and elbow/
forearm fracture (7%).
Thirty-two percent of cases were admitted to hospital for less than 2 days, 61% stayed 2-7 days and 7%
(n=3 cases) stayed 8-30 days. The longest stays (11, 14 and 15 days) were related to neck, hip and thigh
and knee and lower leg injury (fracture or injury to muscle/tendon).
The VAED does not include any descriptive data on the circumstances of the injury. However, some
admissions are also recorded on the VEMD and narrative data on these cases provide some details on the
circumstances of the injury. Injury scenarios included:
• Trips/slips/falls: Fell when boat buffeted by wave/rough sea; Lost footing, fell onto bar; Fell down steps
while at party on cruise boat; Fell from steps on fly bridge onto swim platform then concrete; Fell
off boat onto trailer; Fell into water; Fell when boat hit pylon; Fell off top deck of houseboat; Tripped
carrying a 100kg boat motor; Tripped and fell; Slipped climbing off boat; Slipped on wet pier tying up
boat.
• Hit/struck/crushed: Hand caught/crushed in boat engine/bait box; Hand caught between boat and
ramp/car and boat trailer/ boat and jetty/ two boats/boat trailer; Foot caught in rope; Person crushed
when on front of boat and the boat moved forward; Person crushed between boat and other object;
Person hit by a boat.
• Cutting/piercing: Cut by boat chain; Cut leg.
• Burn: Burnt by heater when it caught fire; Contact burn when fuel leaked and ignited.
5.5.2.2 ED presentations (non-admissions) (n = 238)
There was a 7% decrease in the number of ED presentations for motorised and general boating in 2006/7
(n=238) compared with 2005/6 (n=255 cases).
Just over two-thirds of the ED presentations were male (67%). Half were aged 30-49 years and a further
quarter aged 15-29 years. Forty percent of injuries were to the lower extremity, 27% to the upper
extremity, 16% to the head/face/neck and 11% to the trunk. The hand, including fingers (14%), lower leg
(13%), foot, including toes (10%); and head, excluding face (9%) were the most common specific injury
sites. The most common injury diagnoses were: open wounds (34%); sprains/strains (15%); fracture/
dislocation (14%); superficial injury (13%); crush injury (6%); and injury to muscle/tendons (5%).
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 55

The major causes of injury were: falls (33%, falls, trips and slips when on boat and falls overboard or when
getting off the boat); being struck by, or colliding with, an object (29%, mostly hitting against a part of the
boat body or a piece of equipment or entrapment of hands/fingers or legs between boat and trailer/jetty
etc.); and cutting/piercing by an object (12%, mostly the propeller, part of outboard motor, rope or metal).
5.5.3 Personal Watercraft (PWC)/Jet ski riding (n=80)
There were 80 hospital-treated injury cases involving PWC in 2006/7 (29 admissions and 51 ED
presentations). Males accounted for 93% of admissions and 78% of ED presentations. Admitted cases
were spread across the 5-year age groups from 15-19 to 65-69 years with peaks in age groups 25-29, 35-39
and 45-49 years; ED presentations peaked in age groups 20-24, 25-29 and 35-39 years (Figure 13).
Figure 13
Hospital-treated powered watercraft (PWC) injury by age group, Victoria July 1, 2006 to
June 30, 2007 (n=80)
Percentage of admissions and presentations
25
20
15
10
5
0
Admissions (n=29)
ED Presentations (n=51)
0–4 5–9 10–14 15–19 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45–49 50+
Age group
Sources: Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED) and Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD)
5.5.3.1 Hospital admissions (n = 29)
Thirteen percent of all hospital admissions for recreational boating-related injury were associated with
PWC riding. There were 29 PWC-related admissions in 2006/7.
The most frequently injured body region was the head/face/neck (41%), followed by the trunk (28%) and
lower extremity (17%). Almost half of injuries were fractures (48%). The other injury types were open
wounds (14%), intracranial injury (7%) and injury to internal organs (7%). Forty-one percent of PWC injury
hospitalisations were admitted for less than 2 days, 40% stayed 2-7 days, 17% stayed 8-30 days and 3% (1
case) stayed 31+ days.
The causes of PWC-related admissions were: accident to craft (non-drowning/submersion incident) (31%);
onboard incident (17%); falls (10%); near drowning/submersion (10%); and other and unspecified water
transport (28%).
56

The VAED does not include descriptive data so no details of the circumstances of the injury are available
from that database. Only 9 of the admissions were recorded on the VEMD: two persons were injured when
involved in collisions with another jet ski, two was struck by the jetski, one was knocked off a jetski by a
wave, one got his lower leg caught between two jetskis, one was injured when riding a tyre behind a jetski
and two case narratives gave no further details on the circumstances of the injury.
5.5.3.2 Hospital ED presentations (non admissions) (n = 51)
Eight percent of recorded ED presentations for boating-related recreational injuries were PWC riding cases.
In this current reporting year there are 51 cases, four fewer than in the previous year. Just over threequarters
of ED presentations were male (77%) and case numbers were highest age groups 20-24 years
(22%), 25-29 years (18%) and 35-39 years (16%).
The lower extremity was the most frequently injured body site (28%), followed by the head/face and upper
extremity (each 26%) and trunk (14%). Open wounds accounted for 28% of presentations, followed by
sprains and strains (26%) then fractures and superficial injuries (both 6%).
The major causes of injury were falls from the PWC (37%) and being struck by/colliding with an object
(31%, usually part of their own PWC).
5.5.4 Sailing (n=53)
There were 16 hospital admissions and 37 ED presentations for sailing injury.
5.5.4.1 Hospital admissions (n = 16)
More than two-thirds of sailing hospitalisations were male (69%). Admissions were spread across the
5-year age groups from ages 20-24 years to ages 75-79 years with 56% of cases aged 50 years and older.
Half of the injuries were fractures. The most frequently injured body sites were the head (25% of sailing
injury admissions) and wrist/hand (19%). Sixty-nine percent of cases stayed in hospital for less than 2 days;
and the remainder (31%) stayed 2-7 days.
The major causes of injury were: being struck by/crushed between an object; and ‘on-board incident’ (both
38%). Only four of the admissions were recorded on the VEMD – two were hit on the head by the boom,
one fell while on board and one hurt his ribs when the boat capsized.
5.5.4.2 Hospital ED presentations (n = 37)
Males accounted for 57% of ED presentations and females 43%. Cases occurred in all 5-year age groups
from age group 5-9 years to age group 75-79 years with small peaks in age group 50-54 years (19%, n=7),
followed by age groups 25-29 years and 35-39 years (both 11%, n=4).
Sprain/strains (27%) and fractures (22%) were the most frequently occurring types of injury. The upper
extremity was the most commonly injured body region (32%), followed by the head/face/neck (24%).
The most common causes of injury, derived from the analysis of coded data and case narratives, were:
struck by the boom (30%, n=11); struck by/collided with other equipment such as the spinnaker pole, sail
or winch (19%, n=7); and on-board falls (22%, n=8).
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 57

5.5.5 Windsurfing and kitesurfing (n=39)
There were 19 admissions and 20 ED presentations for injuries related to windsurfing and kitesurfing.
5.5.5.1 Hospital admissions (n =19)
The VAED does not currently have a separate code for windsurfing and kitesurfing. We presume that
kitesurfing cases are currently being coded under the windsurfing code. There were 19 recorded
admissions in 2006/7 compared with 23 in 2005/6. Seventy-nine percent of admitted cases (n=15) were
male. Thirteen cases were young adults aged between 20 and 44 years (68%). Hit/struck/crush was the
major cause of injury (37%), followed by near drowning or submersion and on-board incidents (both 16%).
The lower extremity was the most frequently injured body region (47%, to the hip, thigh. knee, lower leg,
ankle or foot), followed by the upper extremity (21%, to the shoulder, upper arm, wrist or hand), then
head/face/neck (16%, mostly head). The shoulder and knee were the most commonly injured body sites.
The most frequently occurring injuries were fractures (42%) and dislocations/sprains/strains (21%).
Only 3 admissions were recorded on the VEMD (all kitesurfing incidents). Two case narratives provided
some more detail of the injury incidents: one kitesurfer was dragged 30 metres across a carpark and the
other surfed into a brick wall.
5.5.5.2 Hospital ED presentations (n =20)
Eleven (55%) of the 23 cases presenting to EDs were windsurfers and nine (45%) were kitesurfers. All were
male. Cases were found in every 5-year age group from 15-19 to 60-64 years with 40% aged in their 30s.
Dislocation/sprain/strains were the most common injuries (35%), followed by fractures and open wounds
(both 20%). The shoulder (20%) and knee (15%) were most frequently injured.
Most injuries were caused by falls off wind/kite surfer (45%) and struck by/collision with objects (25%, such
as windsurfer/boom/bar/mast).
5.5.6 Fishing from a boat (n=28)
All 3 boating-related fatalities recorded on the NCIS in 2006/7 were fishers. Data on hospital-treated boat
fishing injury underestimate the number of serious injuries associated with fishing from boats. There are
no activity sub-codes in the VAED to disaggregate cases coded to ‘activity - fishing’ on the basis of site
(boat, jetty, bank etc.) The only fishing activity that is coded separately is rock fishing. As a result of this
coding issue, the only ‘fishing from boat’ injury hospitalisations identifiable on the VAED are those that
have been assigned to a ‘water transport’ external cause code; there were 17 such cases. Fifteen were male
(88%). There were 3 cases in age groups 30-34 and 65-69 years, two in age groups 40-44 and 55-59 years
and one in each of the remaining 5-year age groups up to age 75 years.
Twelve cases (71%) were due to on-board incidents (no further detail), three (18%) were caused by an
accident to craft, and two (12%) were coded to ‘other and unspecified’ water transport accident. Injuries
were mostly to the head/face/neck (35%), followed by the trunk and lower extremity (both 30%) then
the upper extremity (6%). The most common injury was fracture (occurring in 53% of cases). Seventy-one
percent of cases (n=12) stayed in hospital less than two days, 24% (n=4) had a stay of 2-7 days and 6% (1
case) stayed between 8 and 30 days.
58

Information on specific sport and activity at the time of injury should be included in VEMD case narrative
data but this information is not consistently reported. Only 11 cases (half as many as the previous year)
could be definitely identified as involving persons injured while fishing from a boat. All cases were male
and 81% were aged 30 and older.
Five cases (45%) were treated in ED for fishhook injuries, four injuries to the hand and one to the leg. There
were three other cutting/piercing cases involving a wire used to catch sharks, a spike from an elephant fish
and a foreign body from stingray to the hand. The other 3 injury cases were due to finger entrapment (in
the boat canopy), tripping in the boat and getting grit in an eye when out fishing.
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 59

6 Discussion and conclusion
There were 139 commercial and 1,091 recreational vessel-related marine incidents recorded on the MIR
system in 2007/8, 15 more commercial incidents and 178 more recreational incidents than recorded in
2006/7. Thirty-five percent of the commercial marine incidents were classified as ‘response only’ compared
with 85% of the recreational marine incidents.
Among the 139 commercial marine incidents in 2007/8, there were 12 reports of serious or minor injury,
six vessels were reported lost and a further 16 incidents resulted in vessel or property damage. Two of the
8 incidents involving hire/drive vessels resulted in damage to the vessel or property; there were no reports
of injury. Among the 1,091 recreational marine incidents that were recorded on the MIR system in 2007/8,
there were 7 fatal incidents causing 8 deaths, 20 incidents causing serious or minor injuries, 10 incidents
that caused vessel damage and 26 incidents that caused property damage.
There were nine recorded boating fatalities (in 7 serious incidents) on the MIR system in 2007/8 compared
with 5 in 2006/7. Two of the incidents that occurred in 2006/7 were classified as ‘response only’ incidents
because they were not vessel-related (one was a boogie border and the other a scuba diver), the other 3
deaths were fishers who drowned. All seven fatal incidents in 2007/8 were classified as serious incidents
and were recreational vessel-related. The nine deaths from these incidents were caused by drowning (3),
impact injuries related to collisions (4) and fire-related burns (2).
Human factors made the greatest contribution to ‘serious incidents’ in 2007/8, both for commercial and
recreational-boating incidents (mostly errors of judgment, navigational errors, failure to keep proper
lookout and inexperience), then environmental factors (mostly related to wind/sea state, tidal and bar
conditions). Material factors (mostly machinery and electrical equipment failures) made the greatest
contribution to ‘response only’ incidents (both commercial and recreational), followed by human factors
(mainly lack of maintenance) for commercial vessel incidents and environmental factors for recreational
vessel incidents.
The reported PFD wear rate among recreational boaters involved in ‘serious incidents’ in 2007/8 (n=229)
was 58% for boaters in vessels ≤4.8 metres in length and 45% for boaters in larger vessels (>4.8 metres in
length) compared with 70 % and 56%, respectively, in 2006/7. The corresponding wear rates reported for
summer 2007 from the PFD wear observational study conducted by MUARC for MSV were 63% and 13%
respectively (Cassell et al., 2007). There was no PFD wear observation study in summer 2008. Recreational
boaters involved in serious incidents in 2007/8 form a small proportion of all active recreational boaters,
so no conclusions can be safely drawn from the apparent deterioration in PFD wear among this group
of boaters.
There is a time lag in the release of death and hospital-treated injury data so injury surveillance systems
datasets run 12 months behind the MIR system dataset. In 2006/7 there were 3 boating-related deaths (all
fishers) recorded on the National Coroners Information System and 223 hospital admissions and 679 ED
presentations recorded on the hospital datasets. One further death was reported in the media but was
not found on the NCIS (the Coroner’s investigation is probably not concluded). The hospital-treated injury
figures are underestimates because there are case capture, data quality and coding system weaknesses
that affect the identification of relevant cases, especially those that occur in fishing.
The highest ranking water sports for hospital-treated injury were: water skiing and other towed water
sports; motor boating/unspecified boating; personal water craft (PWC) riding; sailing; wind/kite surfing;
and fishing.
60

A check of the peer-reviewed research literature showed that, excluding single case reports, there were 3
new published studies in 2007-8 (on alcohol use by boaters and on injury in windsurfing and kitesurfing).
Hence the information on preventing injuries in specific boating sports and activities reported below is
mostly similar to that provided in the last two reports.
Preventing injury in towed water sports
As in the previous four years, towed water sports accounted for the highest proportion of recreational
boating injury hospital admissions and ED presentations (388/920, 43%) in 2006/7. There were 16
more cases than in 2005/6. Case numbers for the individual towed sports cannot be disaggregated in
admissions data, but analyses of ED data for these marine reports has consistently showed that water
skiing accounts for around 60% of towed water sports injury cases and wakeboarding/skiboarding
about 20%.
Around 30% of hospital-treated injuries were to the lower extremity (mostly the knee, foot and ankle)
and 25% to head/face/neck. Fractures, dislocations, sprains and strains and open wounds were the most
common injuries. Falls due to loss of control accounted for around one-third of injuries. Struck by/collision
with objects (mostly the ski/board, ski rope or ski handle), entanglements with the towrope, and overexertion
also caused many injuries.
These results are generally consistent with those found in a study of the characteristics of water skiing
and wakeboarding injuries treated in emergency departments in the United States between 2001 and
2003 (Hostetler et al., 2005). The injury pattern and causes indicate that preventive measures could
include: promotion of pre-season physical conditioning; provision of skills and safety training for skiers/
wakeboarders, boat operators and observers (spotters); promotion of the use of a quick-release tow
line device; safety improvements to equipment design; wearing of wet suits and PFD; and regular and
routine risk assessment of designated towed sports areas by waterway authorities and event/competition
organisers. Hostetler and colleagues commented that the substantial number of head and facial injuries
among wakeboarders underscores the need for research on the potential role of helmets or other
protective gear (Hostetler et al., 2005)
Preventing injury in general boating
As previously stated, injuries in motor boating (pleasure cruising etc.) are underestimated. Cases are underrecorded
or not identifiable on the hospital databases due to coding weaknesses and data quality issues,
although there has been an improvement in the quality of VEMD data narratives over time this has led to
better identification of cases. General boating accounted for approximately one-third of hospital-treated
recreational boating injury cases in 2006/7 (n=279 cases).
The lower extremity (lower leg and foot) and the upper extremity (hand, elbow/forearm, shoulder) were
the most commonly injured body sites. Open wounds, fractures/dislocations and sprains/strains were the
most frequent injuries. Analysis of ED case narratives indicates that the major causes of general boating
injuries were falls (when on the boat and falls overboard or when getting off the boat); being struck by,
or colliding with, an object (mostly hitting against a part of the boat body or a piece of equipment or
entrapment of hands/fingers or legs between boat and trailer/jetty etc.); and cutting/piercing by an object
(12%, mostly the propeller, part of outboard motor, rope or metal).
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 61

Our literature search found only one recently published research article relevant to general boating safety.
Miller & Pikora (2008) undertook a telephone survey of a sample of 500 adult registered boat owners
in Western Australia to explore their use of alcohol when boating. The response rate was 47%. The
researchers used logistic regression analysis to determine the effects of a range of demographic variables
and boating characteristics on the use of alcohol among recreational boaters on their last trip.
The use of alcohol was not found to be prevalent among WA recreational boat owners with 19% reporting
that they had consumed alcohol of their most recent boating trip. Previous research, mainly conducted in
the U.S., had reported that 30-40% of recreational boaters consume alcohol when on the water. The WA
study only included owners of registered vessels and not their passengers which may account for some of
this difference in prevalence levels.
Two variables were found to be significantly and independently associated with alcohol consumption on
the most recent trip. First, those with no boating education were 45% more likely to report consuming
alcohol on their most recent trip compared with those who had completed a boating education course
(OR 0.55; 95% CI 0.32-0.95). Previous studies had found no significant difference in the consumption of
alcohol while boating between those who had been formally trained and those who had not or that
boaters who had completed boater safety training were significantly more likely to consume alcohol when
boating than those who had not.
Second, those who did not have children aged less than 12 years on board were 63% more likely to report
consuming alcohol than those who did have children on board (OR 0.37; 95% CI 0.22-0.63) indicating that
boaters that carry children may be more safety conscious.
The authors of the WA study made a general recommendation that education, legislation and other
measures to reduce boating incidents be monitored over time to determine the effect of these strategies
on safety behaviours.
Other preventive measures recommended in earlier research reports include: extending skills and safety
training for boat operators (including on-water and boat launch/docking skills); institution of boat ramp
upgrades and regular safety inspections and associated maintenance programs by responsible authorities;
promotion of the adoption of regular vessel, fittings and equipment maintenance regimes and safety
checks by boat owners/operators; and initiatives to increase the wearing of personal protective equipment
by boat occupants (PFD, slip resistant shoes and gloves when doing tasks that carry a risk of finger/
hand injury).
Preventing injury in PWC riding
Personal watercraft-related injuries accounted for 9% of recreational boating hospital treated injuries
(80/902 cases) in 2006/7. There were 13 fewer recorded cases in 2006/7 than in 2005/6.
The age-related pattern in 2006/7 was slightly different than in previous years where injured PWC riders
were shown to be mostly young males aged 20-39 years. In 2006/7, hospital admissions among the 45-49
year age group were as frequent as among 25-29 year olds and 35-39 year olds.
The lower extremity, head/face and the trunk were the most frequently injured body sites. Fractures, open
wounds, sprains and strains and intracranial injuries were common injuries. Available data indicate that the
major causes of injury were falls from the PWC, and collisions with a fixed object (usually a part of the PWC)
or moving objects (most commonly their own or another PWC). These results are consistent with findings
from previous studies of patients treated in emergency departments and trauma centres (Latch & Fiser,
2004; Branche et al., 1997).
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Suggested preventive measures in the research literature include: interventions to improve operating
skills and safety knowledge (including knowledge of the ‘rules of the sea’) and to increase compliance with
safe practices including speed limits; imposition of limits on wake jumping; helmet use (post a study of
the hydrostatic drag effect) and foot protection and PFD wear; the fitting of a lanyard kill switch; and an
evaluation of the current steering design on PWC.
Preventing injury in sailing
There are comparatively few sailing injuries cases treated in Victorian hospitals considering the popularity
of the sport. In 2006/7, 6% (n=53) of all hospital-treated recreational boating injury cases were injured
during sailing activities. Fractures, sprain/strains and open wounds were common injuries with the head/
face most vulnerable to boom strike injury.
The main mechanisms of injury were strikes by the boom and other equipment such as the spinnaker
pole, sail or winch and on-board falls. Interventions indicated by the pattern of injury in sailing are the
wearing of protective headgear, slip-resistant closed footwear, gloves and a PFD.
Preventing injury in windsurfing and kitesurfing
There were 39 hospital-treated windsurfing (sailboarding/boardsailing) and kitesurfing injuries in 2006/07,
4% of recorded recreational boating injury cases. There were 5 fewer hospital admissions and 3 fewer ED
presentations for windsurfing/kitesurfing injury than in 2005/6.
Injured windsurfers/kitersurfers were most commonly adult males aged in their 20s and 30s. Falls and
struck by/collision with objects (including the board and natural/man-made objects in the water and on
shore) were the major causes of injuries. Fractures, dislocations/sprains/strains and open wounds were the
most common injuries and the shoulder and knee were the most commonly injured body sites.
Two research reports, one on windsurfing and one on kitesurfing, were published in the peer-reviewed
literature in 2006/7. The article on windsurfing (Dyson et al., 2006) reported the results of a retrospective
survey of injuries among British raceboard and wave/slalom national/international and recreational
windsurfers. The overall injury incidence was 1.5 per person per year. Injury incidence was higher among
elite wave/slalom competitors (1.5/person/year) than elite raceboarders (1.0/person/year) and mixed
activity recreational participants (1.2/person/year). Forty-five percent of new injuries were muscle/tendon
strains with many new and recurrent lower back muscle strains. This is a different pattern than found in
hospital-treated injury data as people with strain injury usually do not present to hospital emergency
departments for treatment. The authors recommended specific body conditioning for the sport with
specific muscular training and flexibility exercises focused on the trunk and back muscles with special
consideration of muscles acting at the hip and shoulder joints. They also recommended the use of a
neoprene waist and lower back support by novice wind surfers during initial shore-based lifting activities
and head protection for wave/slalom windsurfers.
Spanjersberg & Schipper (2007) describe in detail five kitesurfing injury cases that occurred in the
Netherlands over 3 years that warranted the call-out of the Helicopter Mobile Medical Team. One patient
lost control of his kite after a gush of wind and was lifted into the air and thrown to the ground from a
height of 10m. He suffered multiple injuries including a dislocated shoulder, fractured knee, fractured
vertebrae and amputated toes. The second patient was lifted out of the water by a gust of wind and
thrown against a billboard, suffering severe head injuries that subsequently resulted in extensive
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 63

ehavioural problems. The third patient was surfing close to shore when the wind picked up strength
and he was thrown over a dyke and against a parked car. His main injuries were a dislocated shoulder,
a fractured femur and face lacerations. The fourth patient was thrown onto the beach but suffered only
minor chest injuries. The fifth was killed when walking with his kite toward the waterfront in stormy
weather. He was caught by a sudden gust of wind and thrown face first against a wooden pile. The risk
factors for serious injury in these cases were similar to those reported previously: surfing too close to shore;
loss of kite control and a specific wind condition called onshore flow.
Skills and safety training to increase knowledge and practice of safety protocols, avoidance of
overpowering winds and better selection of site and conditions, and the fitting and use of quick release
safety systems (including a release on the foot strap) and helmet wearing all have the potential to reduce
injuries in these wind-powered sports. The introduction of a mandatory certificate of competence has
been proposed for kitesurfing.
Preventing injury in fishing
The activity codes on the hospital admissions dataset (VAED) includes a code for ‘fishing’ but there
are only three sub-codes: rock fishing, other specified fishing and fishing, unspecified. Consequently,
hospitalisations related to fishing from a boat cannot be disaggregated. For ED presentations recorded
on the VEMD, case identification is based on a word search of case narratives but few of the narratives that
contain the search term ‘fishing’ provide more detail about the setting (boat, pier, jetty, river bank etc.).
These weaknesses result in the under-reporting of injuries related to fishing from a vessel.
In 2006/7, there were 2 deaths and 28 reported hospital-treated fishing injuries, the same number of
hospital-treated injuries as in 2005/6. As previously reported both deaths were due to drowning and
neither of the decedents was wearing a PFD. There were few details on the hospital-treated injury cases.
Hospitalisations were mostly fracture cases that occurred in ‘on-board incidents’ and accidents to craft.
Less serious injuries were mainly cutting and piercing by fishhooks, wires and spikes.
Comments on MIR system data quality
Since 2004/5 the frequency of reported commercial and recreational vessel incidents has steadily
increased probably reflecting improved reporting rather than a real increase in incidents. However, the
amount of missing data on some variables remains problematic. Variables that contain substantial missing
data include: incident sub-type for ‘response-only’ commercial incidents; visibility, wind speed, weather
and water conditions for commercial vessel incidents; vessel activity for commercial vessel incidents; and
the role of the injured person, activity of persons onboard and the operator’s licence status for recreational
vessel incidents.
In 2007/8 contributory factors were recorded for 96% of commercial vessel response only incidents and
60% of commercial vessel serious incidents compared with reporting rates of 56% and 51% respectively in
2006/7. This data item was well recorded for recreational vessel ‘response only’ (89%) and ‘serious’ (94%)
incidents. These data provided more useful information on the relative contribution of material, human
and environmental factors to incidents than previous years.
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The MIR system does not capture the major proportion of serious injury incidents. However, it is unrealistic
to expect that the MIR system will ever have the capacity to capture all serious incidents as there is no
legal requirement for recreational boat operators/boaters to report injurious incidents to MSV or the
police. Therefore, hospital injury surveillance systems data will always be required to supplement the MIR
system data.
CONCLUSION
Injury rates cannot be calculated for any of the recreational boating sports because participation and
exposure data (hours at risk) are not available. However, the frequency data reported here provide useful
information to guide injury prevention initiatives. Based on the results of this study, priority should be
given to reducing drowning in recreational boating and reducing injuries in towed water sports, PWC
riding and kitesurfing/windsurfing.
Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 65

7 References
Ashby K, Cassell E. (2004). Boating-related sports and recreational injury, Victoria July 2000 to June 2002.
Hazard Edition 56. Monash University Accident Research Centre, Melbourne.
Ashby K, Cassell E and Congiu (2007). Follow-up study of hospital treated recreational boating injury.
Prepared for Marine Safety Victoria by Monash University Accident Research Centre, Melbourne.
Branche CM, Conn J, Annest JL. Personal watercraft-related injuries: A growing public health concern.
Journal of the American Medical Association. 1997;278(8):663-5.
Cassell E, Ashby K, Guy J. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the 2005 Victorian personal flotation device
(PFD) wear regulations: a pre- and post-observational study. Report to Marine Safety Victoria by Monash
University Accident Research Centre, Melbourne, 2007 (Unpublished).
Dyson R, Buchanan M, Hale T. Incidence of sports injuries in elite competitive and recreational windsurfers.
British Journal of Sports Medicine 2006:40;346-350.
Hostetler SG, Hostetler TL, Smith GA, Xiang H. Characteristics of water skiing-related and wakeboardingrelated
injuries treated in Emergency Departments in the United States, 2001-3. The American Journal of
Sports Medicine 2005;33(7):1065-70.
Latch R & Fiser DH. The increasing threat of personal watercraft injuries. Clinical Paediatrics
2004;43(4):309-311.
Miller JR, Pikora TJ. Alcohol consumption among recreational boaters: Factors for intervention. Accident
Analysis & Prevention 2008; 40:496-501.
Spanjersberg WR, Schipper IB. Kitesurfing: When fun turns to trauma – The Dangers of a new extreme
sport. Journal of Trauma 2007;63:E76-80.
Sport and Recreation Victoria and Victorian Health Promotion Foundation. (2003). Victorians’ participation
in exercise, recreation and sport (2001-02).
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Marine Safety in Victoria: July 2007 to June 2008 67

For further information call Marine Safety Victoria on 1800 223 022 or visit www.marinesafety.vic.gov.au
Published by Marine Safety Victoria, Level 11, 121 Exhibition Street, Melbourne March 2008.
Also published on www.marinesafety.vic.gov.au
Authorised by the Victorian Government, Melbourne.
Printed by On Demand 152 Sturt Street, Southbank, VIC 3006.
DOI 3458/08