AMSA will be closed from 5 pm AEDT Tuesday 24 December 2024, re-opening on Thursday 2 January 2025. Our search and rescue will continue to operate every day (24/7) during this time. See which services are affected.

Fixed Wing Aerial Dispersant Capability

The Fixed Wing Aerial Dispersant Capability (FWADC) continues to function as a jointly funded capability in partnership with the Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre (AMOSC).

The capability requires six aircraft that are maintained in strategic locations to respond to oil spills on a 24/7 basis. The current capability provides a capacity to respond to an incident within short time periods. Some of the requirements of the FWADC include:

  • six primary aircraft located around Australia
  • availability to fly within a specified time period from activation
  • suitably equipped to undertake aerial dispersant application activities in the marine environment
  • the ability to operate offshore (up to 200 nautical miles from the coast)
  • provision of adequately-trained personnel to support contract requirements.
Last updated: 13 August 2020