Maritime safety in Australian waters continues to be a major concern after the country recorded another year of significantly high numbers of incidents, according to an annual report by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).
In its Marine Incident Annual Report 2025, AMSA highlights that safety risks in the country’s maritime sector remain prevalent, with recorded incidents yet again exceeding 4,000 in 2025. During the year, AMSA received a total of 4,174 marine incident reports from domestic commercial vessels (DCVs), foreign-flagged vessels (FFVs), and regulated Australian vessels (RAVs).
Though the 2025 recorded incidents show a drastic decline from 2024, in which 5,639 incidents were reported, the reduction was primarily attributed to a change in classification introduced on January 1, 2025. Under the amended classification, defect reports for RAVs and FFVs were no longer captured within the marine incident reporting process. This means that a substantial number of reports that would have been previously recorded as marine incidents were excluded in 2025, including approximately 1,272 recorded defect reports.
Apart from incidents, AMSA also received 452 reports of marine safety concerns, representing a 14.7 percent increase compared to 394 reports in 2024. During the year in which four fatalities were recorded, and 434 injuries, collisions, groundings, and power, propulsion and system failures remained among the most common incident types.
“Understanding what is driving marine incidents helps vessel owners, operators, and crew focus on where action will have the greatest impact, strengthening onboard procedures, maintaining vessel systems, and managing risks before incidents occur,” states AMSA.
With a coastline extending across 60,000 kilometers (more than 37,000 miles), including 12,000 islands, Australia occupies the third-largest exclusive economic zone in the world. For the country, the maritime sector is critical, with over 99 percent of international trade carried by sea. The country receives more than 29,000 visits per year from international trading ships, ranks as the world’s largest bulk commodities exporter, and its ports handle over 1.6 billion tonnes of cargo annually.
At the national level, Australia’s domestic commercial fleet is made up of around 31,000 vessels comprising 61 vessel classes that range in size from less than 7.5 metres to over 45 metres.
The fact that Australia’s waters are some of the busiest when it comes to maritime activities means that safety risks also remain high, with DCVs being a major contributor to reported incidents, with 1,229 reports received in 2025. This represented a four percent increase from 1,186 in 2024 and an overall 28 percent increase since 2021, when 962 marine incidents were reported. During the year, DCV marine incidents resulted in four fatalities, 228 injuries (including 44 serious injuries), and 92 person overboard incidents.
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The AMSA data show that in 2025, a total of 2,697 FFV marine incidents were recorded, comprising 150 serious and 2,547 less serious. Most of the incidents involved bulk carriers, which accounted for 60 percent of the incidents, followed by container vessels with 15 percent, and general /multi-purpose ships with six percent.
AMSA has been intensifying its crackdown on substandard and unseaworthy vessels sailing into the country’s waters. These actions are partly informed by the noticeable trend in causes of marine incidents. In 2025, power propulsion and steering failures accounted for the largest proportion of reported incidents, with 664 occurrences, making them the predominant technical issue. They were followed by engineering systems failures with 492 occurrences and vessel systems with 330. AMSA has become well-known for its bans on vessels it deems a risk or failing to follow regulations.
