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.

How flag State administration works in Australia

As a flag State, AMSA are responsible for making sure Australian ships comply with relevant legislation/s.

As a small regulator, AMSA has appointed recognized organisations (RO), known as Classification Societies, and delegated plan approval, survey and certification functions to be undertake on AMSA’s behalf.

These classification societies are members of the International Association of Classification Societies and are:

As the RO has been delegated functionality for plan approval, survey and certification, it is expected that all initial queries relating to plan approval, survey and certification requirements are directed to the relevant RO in the first instance.

This applies to vessels that are subject to the Navigation Act 2012, which gives affect to the implementation of IMO Conventions, Codes, the MLC 2006 and STCW Code through the Marine Order series 1 to 98.   

 Where AMSA receives a query that has not been provided to the RO, AMSA will refer the query directly to the RO for their information and action as appropriate.

 Where a RO identifies that the query falls outside the scope of their delegation, following any discussions with the Owner/ Operator/ Designer,  AMSA requires a recommendation from the RO to then allow AMSA to make a decision.”

Last updated: 19 June 2023