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Overview of Major Findings
Incidents by Type
The top incident type in 2005 and 2006 was a collision of vessels, recorded in 21% of all incidents. This was followed by unintentional groundings (16%) and vessel capsizings (8%).
(See Incidents by Type section for more detail)
Contributing Factors in Incidents
The most commonly reported contributing factor in incidents occurring in 2005 and 2006 was an error of judgement, making up 15% of all contributing factors. This was followed by the wind/sea state and inexperience, making up 15% and 6% respectively of all contributing factors.
(See Contributing Factors in Incidents section for more detail)
Serious Injuries and Fatalities
In 2005 and 2006, there were 88 reported fatalities and 315 serious injuries on Australian Waters. Fatalities usually resulted from people being forced into the water, with environmental factors and alcohol/drugs playing a role. Serious injuries resulted from hits, falls and collisions, with human factors like excessive speed playing a role.
(See Serious Injuries and Fatalities section for more detail)
Vessel Types and Lengths
Recreational vessels were involved in 58% of all recorded incidents in 2005 and 2006. Collision of vessels was the most common incident type recorded, with error of judgement and the wind/sea state as the major contributing factors. Most of the 70 fatalities recorded from commercial vessels were recorded from motorboats.
Shorter vessels were more likely to be involved in capsizings while longer vessels were more likely to be involved in collisions.
(See Vessel Types and Lengths section for more detail)
