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DOT Home | Marine information | Registration and vessel surveys | Commercial vessel surveys | Hire and Drive vessels

Hire and Drive Vessel Information

The Western Australian Marine Act's (1982) definition of a "Hire and Drive Vessel":

"means any vessel which is let for hire or reward or for any other consideration whatsoever, including vessels provided in conjunction with holiday establishments or hotels for the use of guests or tenants, and which the hirer uses solely for pleasure".

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Hire and Drive Operations
3. Type Approval of Hire and Drive Vessels
4. Kayak and Sit on Top craft
5. Equipment and Survey Requirements
6. Additional Limits for Hire and Drive Vessels Operations

1. Introduction

Hire and Drive Vessel are distinguished from other commercial craft by the designation of Class 4 in Western Australia. Other states may designate Hire and Drive vessels in a numbers of different ways, for example in Victoria and Queensland as Class 1F may be used to indicated Hire and Drive Vessels. Recent adoption of Part B - General Requirements of the National Standard for Commercial Vessels (NSCV) has standardised the designation Class 4 for Hire and Drive Vessels.

Hire and Drive vessels in Western Australia are subject to the requirements of the Western Australian Marine Act (1982) and W.A. Marine (Hire and Drive) Regulations 1983 which calls up and modifies Section 18 - Hire and Drive of the Uniform Shipping Laws Code.

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2. Hire and Drive Operations

Overall responsibility for licensing of the Hire & Drive operation (that is, the conditions of hire not related to the vessel; conditions such as insurance and shire approval, restrictions as to operations and potential conflict with areas used for skiing, para-sailing, jet-skiing etc.) is the responsibility of the Marine Operations Branch, who will take account of the WA Marine (Hire & Drive) Regulations 1983.

The identifying letter/s and numbers (listed below) allocated by the Marine Operations Branch of this Department shall be marked on both sides of the vessel, and not less than 150 mm in height. These markings can be considered as the “name” of the vessel for our records.

Table 7.1: Identifying Letters

1. P - Powered Dinghies - on-site hire
2. RH - House Boats (Sect 18 requirements, smooth water only)
3. TD - Trailerised Powered Dinghies
4. TRH - Trailerised House Boats (Sect 18 requirements, smooth waters only)
5. C - Canoe

Applicants for the survey of Hire &Drive vessels are advised that:
any powered vessel that is decked must be subject to the same survey procedure by the Commercial Vessel Safety Branch (CVS) as if it was a full commercial vessel. (Application, Drawings, Fees, Letter, Surveys etc.). Thus, each H &D vessel surveyed by CVS will have an Machinery & Hull (M&H) number and its class will be:

• 4E: River
• 4C: Restricted: Most of the dinghies that operate any distance from the shore.
• 4C: To 10 nm (= to or greater than 7.5 meters) if radio is fitted, or some lesser limit.

Applicants are advised that:

1. The owner of the vessel cannot crew the vessel for the hirer;
2. The owner can only operate the vessels in accordance with the restrictions placed on the vessels, whether the owner wants to use the hire boats privately or not; The hire boat can not also be a commercial Class 1, 2 or 3 boat; and
3. he safety of the hirer is the hirer's responsibility. However, the hirer can put total reliance and responsibility on the owner for the warnings, training and operational information about the vessel that he receives.

Fees are charged for the assessment of applications for new or varied Hire & Drive License operations. The fees for a Hire and Drive Operation license can be obtained from the Fees section of this site. Fees are generally subject to annual variation. The license fees are for the administration and licensing of the hire and drive operation and not for the survey of any hire and drive vessels used in the operation.

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3. Type Approval of Hire and drive Vessels

Vessels intended to be used in a Hire and Drive operation that are not required to undergo full Commercial Vessel Safety survey must be Type Approved.

The list of Type Approved Hire and Drive vessels is available from the department from the Commercial Vessel Safety Branch and from the Marine Operations Centre.

If a vessel proposed for use as a hire and drive vessel by a Hire and Drive licensed operator and is not on the Type Approved Hire and Drive vessel list, then, if a production vessel the type approval process is required. If the vessel is of an individual design and not a production built vessel, then full commercial survey is required.

The Commercial Vessel Safety Branch will conduct the initial Type Approval Survey for a production vessel type, which is assessed for the viability of the vessel for use as a Hire and Drive Vessel in Western Australia.

Vessels that require Type Approval are, generally, simple, massed produced craft that are less than 7.5m in length and are to operate in smooth water conditions. These include: Open dinghies (powered, sailed or rowed), canoes, kayaks, sit-on-tops, surf skis, sailing catamarans/trimarans, paddle boats, water bikes and jet skis (PWC).

Type Approval of kayaks and sit-on-tops rely upon acceptance of self-declarations submitted by the applicant, Refer to Part 5 below. Type Approval of vessels other than kayaks and sit-on-tops is based on compliance with AS 1799.1 Small Pleasure Boats Code for determining the maximum capacities and required reserve buoyancy.

The amount of foam buoyancy, that is required to be installed, is often a determining factor. To assist in this there is a Foam Buoyancy Calculation Sheet available to help carry out calculating the required amount of foam to be fitted to a vessel.

An Application for Type Approval of a Hire and Drive Vessel is to be submitted together with a brochure or similar information for the production vessel and the required fees, prior to the department carrying out surveys and inspections of a vessel for consideration for addition to the Approved Hire and Drive Database.

Hire and Drive vessels incur fees for the initial and ongoing surveys which are relevant to the complexity of the vessel and operation. The Type Approval of a production vessel type, for inclusion in the Hire and Drive Type Approved database, requires a one off assessment of a single vessel of the type for the approval process. If the approval process is successful a type approval certificate is issued for a period of 5 years, and vessels of that type may be used by Hire and Drive operators. For the fees associated with vessel type approval for hire and drive please contact the Commercial Vessel Safety Branch.

Production vessel which has been Type Approved by the Commercial Vessel Safety Branch, are administered by the Marine Operations Centre for annual survey and the survey fees for Hire and Drive vessels apply. These fees are available from the fees section of this site.

A Commercial Vessel Safety Branch, Marine Surveyor, will carry out survey during construction and final survey of larger powered vessels (e.g. houseboats and plate construction powered vessels) and all new unusual/prototype hire and drive vessels.

The annual survey of these larger powered vessels will be the responsibility of the Commercial Vessel Survey Branch. Fees for these larger Hire and Drive vessels are as for other commercial vessels.

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4. Kayak and Sit on Top Craft

The Department recognises that manufacturers of Kayak and Sit on Top craft are generally aware of their safety responsibilities for their product. The Department considers that the expertise and responsibility for safe design properly resides with the manufacturer.

To this end, the Department includes such craft for on the "Approved" list, dependent solely upon statements and information supplied by the manufacturer (or suitably qualified person). This approach allows swift and simple approval of Hire and Drive craft of this type and assists the suppliers and prospective purchasers in attending to safety details within their own time frames.

• Kayak and Sit on Top Craft Declaration
• Kayaks - Escape after Capsize
  

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5. Equipment and Survey Requirements

Overall responsibility for licensing and registration of Hire and Drive operations and the inspection of "Type Approved Hire and Drive Vessels" rests with the Marine Operations Branch. Type approved vessels are commonly surveyed by persons authorised under the Western Australian Marine Act such as Marine Officers, Regional Transport officers and Fisheries and Marine Officers (from the Department of Fisheries).

Vessels are surveyed for compliance with the Uniform Shipping Laws Code.

Below are brochure's setting out the Equipment and Survey requirements for the type of operation that is being carried out (Further lists of requirements will be posted as they are ratified):

• 4E: Hire and Drive Houseboats (for Inland Waters only)
• 4C & 4E: Hire and Drive Motor Boats 3.5 to 7.5 meters

Operational Limits for Hire and Drive Vessels

Table 1: Vessel Length v Distance Offshore1 Nautical mile = 1.85 kilometres

Vessel Length	Maximum Distance Offshore (Nautical Miles)
	Sealed Deck	Open Boats
3.5m but less than 5.5m	3.0	2.0
5.5m but less than 7.5m	5.0	2.0
7.5m and over	As per full commercial	As per full commercial

6. Additional Limits for Hire and Drive Vessels Operations

Hire and Drive Vessel's approved for additional operations in excess of table 1 above may operate to limits described below.

Additional Limits of Operation for Hire and Drive Vessel 5.5 meters and over, approved for operations to 5 Nautical Miles from Mainland Coast.

Location	Limits of Operation
Dampier Archipelago	Within, and up to 500 metres outside of, the area bounded by a line (i) north from the mainland shore through the western shore of Egret Island, (ii) straight and northerly to Bare Rock, (iii) north-easterly to the northern shore of Kendrew Island, (iv) straight to the northern shore of Brigadier Island, (v) straight to Cape Legendre on Legendre Island, (vi) straight east-south-easterly to the north-west of Delambre Island, (vii) along the eastern side of Delambre Island reefs to the reefs' southernmost tip, (viii) due south to Dixon Island and the mainland.
Shark Bay	Within the confines of Henri Freycinet Harbour and Freycinet Reach to a limit of a line drawn: (i) due east from the eastern extremity of Quoin Bluff South (Dirk Hartog Island) for 500 metres (to approximately E113°09.7 S25°53.3), (ii) then in a straight line on a bearing of 150 degrees true to a point 45 degrees true from Tumbledown Point (approximately E113°14.5 S26°00.9),(iii) then in a straight line on a bearing 45 degrees true to Peron Peninsula (approximately 500 metres south-east of Middle Bluff). South of Dirk Hartog Island, operations are also limited to east of a line drawn: (i) from Surf Point on Dirk Hartog Island due south to the mainland..
Exmouth (Murion Islands)	Within 2 nautical miles of South and North Muiron Islands, and also in waters bounded by (i) a straight line from the shore of North West Cape to its western tangent with the 2 nautical mile limit, (ii) the continuation of the 2 nautical mile limit north-east and south-east around North Muiron Island, (iii) a tangent with the 2 nautical mile limit in a southerly direction to the eastern shore of Sunday Island, (iv) a straight line to the mainland at Point Murat
Thevenard Island	Within 2 nautical miles of Thevenard Island and in waters also bounded by (i) a straight line commencing on the mainland shore west of Onslow and running due north through Ashburton Island to where it forms a tangent to the 2 nautical mile limit, (ii) the 2 nautical mile limit around Thevenard Island, (iii) a straight line to the mainland which is tangential to the eastern side of the 2 nautical mile limit and intersects the north-east shore of Direction Island.
Rottnest Island	Within 2 nautical miles of Rottnest Island and also in waters bounded by (i) a line from John Point (Rockingham) to Collie Head on Garden Island, (ii) the eastern and northern shores of Garden Island, (iii) a line from Entrance Point on Garden Island to Parker Point on Rottnest Island, (iv) the eastern shore of Rottnest Island to Bathurst Point, (v) a line due east from Bathurst Point to the mainland shore.

 

Additional Limits of Operation for Hire and Drive Power Dinghies, approved for operations to 2 Nautical Miles from Mainland Coast

Location	Limits of Operation
Flying Foam Passage	Within waters bounded by (i) a line drawn due east and west of the northern-most tip of Wilcox Island to its intersections with Gidley Island in the west and Dolphin Island in the east, (ii) the south-east shore of Gidley Island, (iii) a line running due south from the western-most tip of Gidley Island to within 200 metres of Angel Island, (iv) a line around Angel Island 200 metres off its western shore, (v) the shore of Angel Island, (vi) the standard 2 nautical mile from the mainland limit.
East Lewis and West Lewis Island	Within waters bounded by (i) a straight line drawn from Parker Point on the mainland to the eastern edge of the bay on West Lewis Island referred to as Brambles Marsh, (ii) the eastern shore of West Lewis Island, (iii) a straight line from Marks Point to a point 200 metres west of King Point on East Lewis Island, (iv) a straight line from this point to the western-most tip of Mistaken Island, (v) the standard 2 nautical mile from the mainland limit.

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