CAQA Bluewater Maritime
Bluewater Maritime is a marine services company operating a fleet of domestic commercial vessels on the east coast of Australia. From its Newcastle Harbour base it runs harbour towage and workboat services for the port, a crew transfer and passenger ferry service, a line boat and mooring gang for visiting ships, and a 140-berth marina with a fuel wharf. The Eden boatyard slips and maintains vessels up to 30 metres for the company and for outside owners, and the Gladstone base supports resource industry clients with crew transfer and survey work.
The company is organised into six departments under the General Manager. Marine Operations runs the five-vessel fleet on a rotating roster with crews working seven days on and seven off, and the port services gang works a 24-hour on-call roster to meet ship arrivals at any hour. Engineering keeps the fleet in class and in survey through a planned maintenance system, the marina and boatyard operate seven days a week, and the safety, crewing and administration teams work from the Newcastle base.
Every vessel operates under the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law with a certificate of survey and a certificate of operation issued by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. The company's safety management system covers the fleet, the marina and the boatyard and is audited internally every six months. Crews hold certificates of competency appropriate to each vessel, security is managed under the maritime transport security framework, and pollution prevention is built into refuelling, maintenance and waste procedures.