Maritime & Shipping · Australia

Weeks of watches at sea test sleep like nothing else.

Seafarers stand watch systems such as six-on/six-off for weeks at a time, with broken sleep, noise and motion. Fatigue on watch raises the risk of grounding, collision and injury.

Regulation changed 1 July 2026

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Who this page covers

Coastal and domestic commercial vessels
Commercial fishing
Cruise lines
Dredging
Ferries and passenger vessels
Marine pilots, tugs and towage
Offshore supply and construction vessels (also see Oil & Gas)
Shipping lines - deep sea

Reg Watch

What’s changed, and what’s coming

Regulatory change that affects how you manage fatigue in maritime & shipping: what has changed in the last 12 months, and what is on the way.

Recent changeFrom 1 July 2026

Applies across industries in Australia

From 1 July 2026 NSW requires you to follow approved codes, including the fatigue code, or manage risk to an equal or higher standard. Victoria's psychological health regulations apply from 1 December 2025.

Read the change

Upcoming changeExpected from 23 December 2027

Amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention approved in June 2025 are expected to enter into force on 23 December 2027: shore leave, medical care guidance, repatriation and protection from harassment. Hours of rest are unchanged. Safe Work Australia's review of the model WHS laws is with ministers, with no date set.

Regulatory changes checked as at 1 October 2026.

Regulation

Who regulates it, and what they expect

Australia runs two maritime fatigue regimes and they bind different fleets. On regulated Australian vessels and foreign ships in Australian waters, Marine Order 28 sets hard minimum rest hours, in force since 1 September 2025. Domestic commercial vessels - ferries, fishing, tourism, tugs and workboats, most of the national fleet - sit under separate law with no general rest-hour rule, but since 1 June 2025 Marine Order 504 requires their safety management system to identify the risk of master and crew fatigue and record how it will be managed. AMSA regulates both.

Who regulates it

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority regulates both fleets: rest hours on regulated Australian and foreign vessels under the Navigation Act 2012, and domestic commercial vessels under the national law, where it has been sole regulator since 1 July 2018. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigates marine casualties, and state work health and safety regulators cover shore-based port and stevedoring staff.

Your obligations

If you operate a regulated Australian vessel or a foreign ship in Australian waters, the owner must ensure each seafarer gets at least 10 hours rest in any 24 and 77 hours in any 7 days, split into no more than two periods with one of at least 6 hours and no more than 14 hours between them, with records kept for AMSA. If you hold a certificate of operation for a Class 1, 2 or 3 domestic commercial vessel, your safety management system risk assessment must identify the risk of master and crew fatigue and how you will manage it. Class 4 hire-and-drive is excluded.

Consequences

Failing to provide the minimum rest hours on a regulated Australian vessel is a strict liability offence carrying a civil penalty of 50 penalty units, and exposes you to AMSA direction, detention and prosecution under the Navigation Act, plus Port State Control detention overseas. For domestic commercial vessels, AMSA enforces against the safety management system itself: improvement and prohibition notices, conditions on or suspension of your certificate of operation, and prosecution. A detained vessel usually costs more than the penalty does.

Penalties

Marine Order 28 minimum rest hours: strict liability offence, civil penalty 50 penalty units - $18,200 at the Commonwealth penalty unit of $364 in force from 1 July 2026. No separate published fine schedule for domestic commercial vessel fatigue breaches; AMSA acts by notice, certificate condition and detention.

Sources: Marine Order 28 (Operations standards and procedures) 2025, made under the Navigation Act 2012; AMSA Marine Notice 2025/03; Marine Order 504 and the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law; the Maritime Labour and STCW Conventions; ATSB report on the Shen Neng 1.

Fatigue-critical roles

Where fatigue matters most in maritime & shipping

The roles where a fatigued worker is most likely to cause serious harm, the tasks that carry the risk, and why fatigue builds up in them.

Role	Risk	High-risk tasks	Why fatigue builds
Deck officer / master (watchkeeper) Rules Regulatory designation Seafarer on a regulated Australian vessel (Navigation Act 2012; Marine Order 28) Hours and rest Marine Order 28 (2025) s 12: 10 h rest in any 24 h and 77 h in any 7 days; at most 2 periods, one of at least 6 h	Critical risk	Keeping a bridge watch alone in the 00:00-04:00 or 04:00-08:00 watch; collision avoidance in coastal traffic; port arrival straight after cargo work	6-on/6-off or 4-on/8-off watches, port-call cargo work eating rest, time-zone changes, months-long tours
Marine engineer (engineer officer) Rules Regulatory designation Seafarer on a regulated Australian vessel (Navigation Act 2012; Marine Order 28) Hours and rest Marine Order 28 (2025) s 12: 10 h rest in any 24 h and 77 h in any 7 days; at most 2 periods, one of at least 6 h	Critical risk	Unmanned machinery space on-call alarm response at night; engine-room watch; bunkering, fuel changeover and blackout recovery after broken sleep	UMS on-call nights with repeated alarms, port maintenance during rest periods, heat and noise
Marine pilot (port pilot; coastal pilot, Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait) Rules Regulatory designation Licensed pilot (state marine safety law, e.g. Marine Safety Act 1998 (NSW)); coastal pilot (Navigation Act 2012, Marine Order 54) Hours and rest Coastal pilots: Marine Order 54 fatigue requirements; port pilots: state pilotage standards and the provider's FRM	Critical risk	Conning large ships through pilotage waters at night; boarding by pilot ladder in swell; back-to-back jobs and long coastal pilotages	24/7 on-call job lists, night jobs, long transits and travel between jobs, irregular rest
Tug master Rules Regulatory designation Master of a regulated Australian vessel or a domestic commercial vessel (Marine Order 28 or MO 504) Hours and rest MO 28 rest for regulated vessels; DCVs: MO 504 SMS must identify and control fatigue	Critical risk	Ship-assist and harbour towage at night on short notice; towline handling near girting risk; coastal barge towing on two-watch systems	On-call 24 h harbour rosters, two-watch towing (6-on/6-off), back-to-back jobs
Master / skipper (domestic commercial vessel) Rules Regulatory designation Master of a domestic commercial vessel (Marine Safety (DCV) National Law; Marine Order 504 SMS) Hours and rest MO 504: SMS must identify and control fatigue; prescriptive rest only with prescribed minimum crewing	Critical risk	Skippering a ferry or workboat with minimum crew on long days; night fishing then steaming home after hauling; lone watch on small vessels	Long seasonal days, early starts, split shifts on commuter ferries, multi-day trips with fragmented sleep
Integrated rating / able seafarer (watch) Rules Regulatory designation Seafarer on a regulated Australian vessel (Navigation Act 2012; Marine Order 28) Hours and rest Marine Order 28 (2025) s 12: 10 h rest in any 24 h and 77 h in any 7 days; at most 2 periods, one of at least 6 h	High risk	Lookout and helm on night watches; mooring and anchor work during port calls that cut into rest; fire rounds	Watch rotations, port-call work in rest periods, long tours

Stories

When fatigue made the record

Published findings and prosecutions from regulators, courts and investigators in Australia.

Feb 2026 · Western Australia, Australia
Boat deckhand falls asleep driving home after 14-hour work day - head-on crash injures family
- Safety
- Legal
A deckhand who had been working on a boat since the early hours was driving home about 14 hours later when he fell asleep at 100 km/h and veered into oncoming traffic, colliding head-on with a utility carrying a driver and two passengers, one of them a young child. The occupants of the other vehicle were taken to hospital. On appeal, the Supreme Court of Western Australia held the crash was foreseeable given the exhaustion he was suffering from his work, describing fatigue as a "silent killer on the roads", and resentenced him to a suspended prison term.
Case AU-maritime-10Report an issue
May 2025 · Queensland, Australia
Tour boat master snoring in view of guests after taking sleeping tablets: valid reason to dismiss
- Safety
- Legal
- Financial
The master of a reef and island tour vessel was found asleep for 20 to 30 minutes on a ledge above the helm, snoring within earshot of guests, after taking over-the-counter sleeping tablets the night before his shift; a guest asked a crew member what was wrong with the skipper. Days later he had to be woken by crew after a break. The Fair Work Commission said it was 'of concern' that he presented for work knowing he had taken sleeping pills and that the fitness for work policy required him to be fit for duty, and found a valid reason for dismissal. Because the employer cut short his chance to respond, he was awarded about $5,200 compensation.
Case AU-maritime-09Report an issue
Apr 2022 · Queensland, Australia
Fishing master on watch or on call for six days with four hours' rest runs vessel onto reef; regulator detains it
- Safety
- Legal
A commercial fishing vessel ran aground on a reef off Queensland a week into a voyage. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority found the master had been continuously on watch or on call for six days, with only about four hours of proper rest during the whole trip, and was resting in the galley rather than his cabin because he doubted the deckhands' competence. The authority detained the vessel after it was refloated and identified failures in the operator's risk assessment and safety management.
Case AU-maritime-06Report an issue
Dec 2019 · Australia (Indian Ocean territory)
Border Force vessel crews fly up to 15 hours then wake at 3 am to join ship: Commission rules 7-10 hours' rest meets the 'overnight rest' rule
- Legal
Border protection marine crews joining large patrol vessels at a remote island travelled about 11 to 15 hours from their home cities, then woke around 3 am to join the ship. Crew evidence described two to six hours of broken sleep. The unions argued this breached the requirement for overnight rest after more than 12 hours' travel. The Commission accepted sleep is essential to fatigue management and that the rest period should likely be 7 to 10 hours, but found the existing rosters complied, while noting the crews could pursue the issue as a work health and safety matter elsewhere.
Case AU-maritime-11Report an issue
Apr 2019 · New South Wales, Australia
Harbour ferry master found asleep in the wheelhouse while the engineer steered: dismissal upheld
- Safety
- Legal
On a morning harbour passenger service in a capital city, the ferry operator's operations manager boarded at a wharf along the route and found the engineer at the helm and the master asleep on a bench in the wheelhouse; the engineer said the master had been asleep for part of the route. The master blamed a codeine cough mixture taken against the dosage directions and missed heart medication, but gave no medical evidence. The Fair Work Commission upheld his dismissal, saying a ferry master asleep on duty on a public transport service 'cannot be countenanced'.
Case AU-maritime-08Report an issue
Apr 2010 · Queensland, Australia
Bulk carrier grounds on a Queensland reef after mate's fatigue
- Safety
- Legal
A bulk carrier ran aground on a shoal off the central Queensland coast in 2010, shortly after loading coal at a Queensland port. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau found the chief mate's monitoring of the ship's position was ineffective and his actions were affected by fatigue, and that no fatigue management system ensured watchkeepers were fit to stand watch after supervising cargo loading.
Case AU-maritime-01Report an issue
Aug 2006 · Western Australia, Australia
Offshore supply ship grounds at 4:45 am after second mate works almost 17 hours straight
- Safety
An offshore tug and supply ship returning from a drilling rig to a regional port ran onto shoals off an island at almost 10 knots at 4:45 am, after the second mate set the autopilot on a wrong course and did not plot recorded GPS positions or act on visual cues. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau found the second mate had been working for almost 17 hours straight, having worked about 18-hour days after joining the ship while unwell, and that both he and the master were probably affected by fatigue. Shipboard procedures recorded work hours but did not ensure watchkeeper fatigue was managed.
Case AU-maritime-05Report an issue
July 2002 · Queensland, Australia
Reef pilot falls asleep on bridge settee; bulk carrier strays off route and grounds
- Safety
During a night transit of an inner reef shipping route off north Queensland, the coastal pilot on a bulk carrier lay down on the bridge settee intending to rest and fell asleep, while the officer of the watch let the ship drift west of the planned route. When the pilot woke about an hour later the ship was close to a reef and grounded minutes later despite emergency manoeuvres. The investigation found the pilot was significantly fatigued, mainly because of his own fatigue strategies before and during the passage, after back-to-back long pilotages with little time ashore, and that he was likely affected by sleep inertia on waking.
Case AU-maritime-04Report an issue
July 1996 · Queensland, Australia
Coastal pilot probably fell asleep before cargo ship grounded at full speed on reef
- Safety
A refrigerated cargo ship under the conduct of a coastal pilot ran aground at full speed on a reef in the Great Barrier Reef and was stranded for eight days. The national marine investigator found that, on the balance of probability, the pilot fell asleep, and that chronic fatigue from the pilot's recent work schedule, with a high proportion of nights of disrupted sleep, contributed. There was no formal system to monitor coastal pilots' disrupted sleep, and poor bridge teamwork meant the watch officer did not intervene.
Case AU-maritime-02Report an issue
June 1995 · Queensland, Australia
Bulk carrier grounds after watchkeeper sleeps for hours alone on the bridge
- Safety
A bulk carrier ran aground inside the Great Barrier Reef after the officer of the watch fell asleep alone on the bridge for around five hours, missing a planned course change. There was no lookout and no alarm to wake him. The investigator found he was suffering extreme fatigue from a week of poor-quality sleep and a decision not to sleep after leaving a Queensland port, and that the master and senior officers were all significantly fatigued.
Case AU-maritime-03Report an issue
Nov 1990 · Tasmania, Australia
Trawler master asleep alone at the wheel after under 6 hours' sleep in 48 runs into fish farm: owners lose right to cap liability
- Safety
- Legal
- Financial
A deep-sea trawler heading for the fishing grounds ran at full speed for about 15 minutes after its master, alone in the wheelhouse, fell asleep, and grounded in a salmon farm, causing extensive damage and the escape of about 4,000 fish. The master had slept less than six hours in the previous 48. The Federal Court found the owners knew of his tendency to work excessive hours, gave no watchkeeping directions and had not fitted available watch or radar alarms, so they could not limit their liability to about $34,000 and faced damages likely in the hundreds of thousands.
Case AU-maritime-07Report an issue

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How the suite fits

How each product connects to your obligations

Grades describe how strongly a product connects to an obligation. None discharges an obligation, and none carries a compliance warranty.

Sleepfit

Supports a named obligation

Sleepfit supports the fatigue risk your safety management system must now identify, by measuring what your masters and crew actually sleep and whether the sleeping environment on board delivers it.

About Sleepfit

Fatiguefit4Duty

Supports a named obligation

Fatiguefit4Duty supports the fatigue control your safety management system has to describe, giving the master a check before a watch and a record of the decision that follows it.

About Fatiguefit4Duty

Awareness eLearning

Supports your general duty of care

Marine Order 504 requires your safety management system to identify fatigue risk, but its training clause does not name fatigue; AMSA guidance does. Awareness eLearning supplies fatigue content with a completion record for masters and crew.

About Awareness eLearning

Was It Fatigue?

Supports your general duty of care

Marine Order 504 makes fatigue a risk your safety management system must address, but no rule names a fatigue review after an incident. Was It Fatigue? supports your own investigation. A structured judgement aid, not a determination of cause.

About Was It Fatigue?

SleepWellBaby

SleepWellBaby is a voluntary benefit with no AMSA requirement behind it. It supports crew with infants at home during shore rotations, when recovery sleep is meant to happen.

About SleepWellBaby

Recommended bundle

Where we’d start in maritime & shipping

Every bundle is priced on prevalence: your whole cohort gets access, and you pay for the share predicted to need each product. How pricing works.

Recommended · Levels 2 and 3

Prevention Bundle

Proactive fatigue risk: assess, manage and train, with sleep screening underneath.

Alternative · Levels 2, 3 and 5

Fatigue Lifecycle Bundle

Assess, manage, investigate: from the Census to the point of duty to the post-incident review.

Why this pairing in Australia

Marine Order 504 makes your safety management system identify master and crew fatigue risk. Sleepfit supports that by measuring sleep obtained on board; Fatiguefit4Duty supports the fatigue control with a pre-watch check; Awareness eLearning trains crew. Fatigue Lifecycle adds incident review.

See what sleep and fatigue mean for your maritime & shipping workforce.

Tell us roughly how many people you employ. Your snapshot models how many are likely sleeping poorly and what it costs, from published research for maritime & shipping. Then choose who you’d cover, and we’ll take you to the right next step.