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

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’.
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