Markings for an Australian registered boat

[MikeRunningFree]

I have recently purchased a 38 ft monohull yacht that was Australian registered (required if leaving Australian shores for cruising to another country).
Although the boat did not have any markings apart from the boats name, when I came to transfer ownership to my name, I was informed by SRO of the markings required. The markings are required for all Australian registered ships regardless of size and although logical for a large commercial ship are completely inappropriate for a 38’ yacht. For example, the registration no and loa are required (on a steel yacht) to be punched in numbers min 100 mm high and 15 mm thick in the main beam below the upper deck!!!
I cannot finalise the transfer of ownership until I can verify that this has been done.
Anyone out there with some advice?
Mike on Running Free

[mcarthur]

No advice, but we had the same problem. We did the best we could (near doorway out on door bulkhead) to meet what we felt they wanted.

[StuM]

https://www.amsa.gov.au/part-6-registration-process-0

"The official number and the net tonnage or length overall (where the ship is not measured for tonnage) shall be cut into the main beam or affixed by way of a plate to a main structural member or other integral part under the upper deck."

[StuM]

Also the Regulations:
Shipping Registration Regulations 1981
Regulation 20
...
(3) The inscription referred to in paragraph (1) (c) must comprise:
(a) the letters ‘O.N.’ followed by the official number of the ship; and
(b) either:
(i) the letters ‘N.T.’ followed by the net tonnage of the ship as shown on its tonnage certificate; or
(ii) if the ship is not a ship to which subsection 16 (1) of the Act applies — the letters ‘L.O.A.’ followed by the length of the ship in metres taken to 2 decimal places;
being letters and figures:
(c) that:
(i) are incised into the surface of the portion of the ship to which they are applied; or
(ii) form part of the fabric of that portion of the ship and project from the surrounding surface of that portion of the ship; and
(d) the height of which is:
(i) not less than 100 millimetres; or
(ii) where the portion of the ship to which they are applied is such that compliance with subparagraph (i) is not practicable, the maximum practicable height

It's common on pleasure craft to see a plate inscribed with the appropriate details, sized appropriately for the location, fixed "permanently" somewhere below decks.


That complies with the AMSA quote above and the highlighted parts of the Regulation.


Just put up somewhere a suitable plate and certify* that you are compliant with the Regulations.
No one is ever going to check it for size.


*certify, not verify

[MikeRunningFree]

Many thanks, makes sense

[MikeRunningFree]

Many thanks. Useful info

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by MikeRunningFree

The markings are required for all Australian registered ships regardless of size and although logical for a large commercial ship are completely inappropriate for a 38’ yacht. For example, the registration no and loa are required (on a steel yacht) to be punched in numbers min 100 mm high and 15 mm thick in the main beam below the upper deck!!!

Led Myne is registered on the Australian Register; she is shorter than LOA 38 ft and she carries markings of regulation size. I've been on many other Australian-registered vessels and ex-Aus-registered vessel , as small as LOA of 28 ft and perhaps smaller, and seen markings that fit the standard dimensions.

So I question your assertion that standard markings are 'inappropriate' as a basis for special pleading for you not to follow the regulations.

I can report that I have seen, in both Aus waters and in foreign waters, Aus-registered vessels that have quite strange versions of the official markings.

That has included:

* vessels with O.N. xxxxx (but not length) marked on the transom (apparently from a state of Aus that tolerated the lack of state registration if the vessel was on the Aus register).

* vessels with O.N. xxxx and LOA xx m. marked in the head (meaning the compartment in which the marine toilet was installed).

When I registered Led Myne more than 20 years ago, I visited the office of the Aus shipping register (then in Canberra) to submit my forms and so on. The clerk to whom I talked said what his office required as the minimum standard was that the markings be not easily removed or obliterated and that, for pleasure yachts, any inspector would turn a blind eye to minor variations in the location of the markings as long as [1] the markings could be demonstrated on demand (and could be photographed); and [2] they were such that they could not be obliterated or removed without significant effort. Of course, such oral advice from a clerk who likely has retired, is valueless in terms of strict compliance with the legislation (but I mention it because it may give you a clue).

[MikeRunningFree]

👍😀 very helpful
Many thanks

[goboatingnow]

Find a nice carving surveyor buy him a pint , get signoff before put anything actually on the boat

[Paul Klein]

Sign off by authorised officer not required these days only owner needs to sign off.
Use your imagination for markings.
I chose lettering for external markings much larger than recommend to facilitate recognition by coast watch fly overs in remote areas.

[Blue Reef Cafe]

Mike,

I went through this recently. The instructions are quite clear and this is what I ended up with on my Moody 425.

Regards

Russ

[RaymondR]

"No one is ever going to check it for size."

Whilst this is most probably true the $2000/day penalty if they chose to enforce it for any reason would cause one to choke a little when reading the bank statement at the end of the month.

And since it's not such a big impost why not make the small effort required to comply anyway.

A hypothetical: If there is a $2000/day penalty for an incorrectly marked vessel and the Australian government is party to an international agreement on ships registration which requires that a vessel not have more than one official identity, would one be incorrectly marked and therefor liable for the penalty by also marking, and therefor identifying, a vessel with state registration identification marks in addition to the federal?

[StuM]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

"No one is ever going to check it for size."

Whilst this is most probably true the $2000/day penalty if they chose to enforce it for any reason would cause one to choke a little when reading the bank statement at the end of the month.

And since it's not such a big impost why not make the small effort required to comply anyway.

A hypothetical: If there is a $2000/day penalty for an incorrectly marked vessel and the Australian government is party to an international agreement on ships registration which requires that a vessel not have more than one official identity, would one be incorrectly marked and therefor liable for the penalty by also marking, and therefor identifying, a vessel with state registration identification marks in addition to the federal?

Dunno, but my PNG registered boat still has the AUS registration details where they were placed inside originally

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by StuM

Dunno, but my PNG registered boat still has the AUS registration details where they were placed inside originally

Hi Stu,

nasty one, they can probably get you for perjury. Did you take the boat off the Australian register.

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

nasty one, they can probably get you for perjury. Did you take the boat off the Australian register.

Hmm ... If you delete a vessel from the Aus register, you can get (likely on request and probably for a fee) a Certificate of Deletion.

I've seen several commercial ships and recreational yachts with more than one registration marking.

I've not seen requirements to remove markings and, further, I suspect that you would be best not removing markings.

My (albeit limited) understanding is that the provenance of a hull should be fully traceable from boatyard, to first owner/national registration, to second owner/national registration, and so on ad infinitum.

That means that ships papers are or could be a collection of papers that might start with builder's papers, and then include entry onto one national register, followed by a certificate of deletion, followed by entry onto a second national register.

In other words, a chain of ownership from builder to current owner, not a cleanskin created anew without history.

AMSA does have a facility for confirming or advising them on the status of a vessel's registration status, including if it has been sold or broken up. See:

https://www.amsa.gov.au/confirming-y...ration-details