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MARITIME NEW ZEALAND NEW FEES FOLLOW FUNDING REVIEW Vessel owners or operators have had to pay a fee to Maritime New Zealand from February 1 for their Safe Operational Plan Certificates of Compliance following a funding review. The value for money review, undertaken in 2010, found Maritime NZ was entitled to charge for the service, the general manager maritime services, Sharyn Forsyth, said in a letter released on December 14. Other areas affected are applications for exemptions from the maritime rules, Safe Ship Management Certificates and follow- up inspections of SOLAS and non-SOLAS domestic vessels. Initial safety inspection visits to a vessel will remain free of charge, as will liaison and education visits and telephone information and advice from Maritime NZ's maritime safety inspectors. The fee rates are based on the current hourly charge-out rates of: • $63.38 for administrative staff • $100.25 for technical staff, and • $144.13 for scientific and management staff. Fees may be paid either directly to Maritime NZ or through the owner or operator's SSM company. "The current rates were set more than 10 years ago and do not fully recover Maritime NZ's costs," said Forsyth. A staged plan for increasing these rates, prepared as part of the review, was put on hold following the grounding of the Rena. Affected parties will be consulted on the proposed changes when the review recommences. TRIO WINCHED TO SAFETY A rescue helicopter crew winched three people to safety on December 18 after they had had to abandon their fishing boat in rough seas in South Taranaki. The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand received a Mayday call around 0410 from a 17m fishing boat, advising the boat was sinking and they were getting into a liferaft. The boat was about eight miles off Patea. Communications with the three occupants were lost shortly afterwards and a distress beacon which was briefly activated also stopped signalling. The Taranaki Rescue Helicopter arrived on the scene just before 0600 and her crew sighted the liferaft about 15 minutes later. A nearby vessel, the Spirit of Resolution, arrived at the scene just after 0630 and stood by in case assistance was required. The helicopter transported the trio to the Taranaki Base Hospital for medical assessment. MOVING TO THE NEW FRAMEWORK Information about the transition to qualifications on the proposed new Qualifications and Operational Limits framework is now on Maritime New Zealand's website. The plan is for the amended rules to come into effect in 2013. From that date, old and existing maritime qualifications will start being replaced by qualifications in the new QOLF. At least 40 old qualifications are still in the system (although most are not in use), along with 32 qualifications under current rules. These will be replaced by 33 qualifications, including the four new STCW qualifications brought about by the Manila Amendments. When the new QOLF rules come into effect, all seafarers who want to keep using their qualifications will either have their tickets confirmed – if the qualification matches one on the new framework – or must transition to new qualifications. If a new qualification is the same as an existing one, that qualification will be confirmed as soon as the new rules come into effect. However, about 11,000 qualifications will need to be transferred to the new QOLF over five years from 2013. Seafarers who must transition to a new qualification will be notified as soon as the new rules come into effect, and advised when transition must take place. Date of birth will determine the order in which the transition will take place. You may be able to ask to transition to a new qualification earlier than the due date. There may be benefits to being pro-active, as some new qualifications will provide enhanced privileges, for example, in increased size of vessel or area of operation. Seafarers who do not intend to continue using their qualification(s) will find their certificate will become invalid on the date of their birthday in the applicable year of the transition. The exception is the ILO AB certificate, which will be subject to a similar transition process from December 31, 2016. See maritimenz.govt.nz YACHTSMAN MISSING An aerial, land and water search was called off on February 16 for a missing yachtsman, Richard Rusbatch, aged 56. Two LandSAR teams, a Coastguard vessel, a fixed wing aircraft and HMNZS Pukaki were involved. The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand began searching the previous day after a public sighting of Rusbatch's 11.6m sloop, the Honfleur, circling about 11 miles east of Mayor Island with no-one on board. RCCNZ search and rescue mission coordinator John Ashby said evidence suggested Rusbatch had intended to anchor off Mayor Island in Honeymoon Bay. ISSUE 17 JUNE 2010 No anchor watch results in deaths Are you ready? Be prepared for an emergency March/April 2012 Professional Skipper 63 rifting while rew slept What's the outlook? Keep an eye on the weather 18 ISSUE SEPTEMBER 2010 s & updates TIN itchboard ational safety and ol and manage ined at an appropriate ention of owners f this maintenance, to ensure the enance for TY BULLETIN FREE QUARTERLYPUBLICATION SUBSCRIBE NOW! REAL STORIES from in and around our shores To subscribe toLOOKOUT! in print or online, email publications@maritimenz.govt.nz, phone 0508 22 55 22 or visit www.maritimenz.govt.nz/lookout V P.S84VI S 4