Waterway Safety Monitoring System (WSMS) – Pilot program at Patterson River Boat Ramp
A water safety compliance camera system is being trialled at Patterson River, Carrum, to help improve the safety behaviour of waterway users.
The purpose of the project is to monitor vessel operator compliance with marine safety laws, and to ultimately improve the safety of all waterway users.
Based on an approach used in other Australian jurisdictions, the Waterway Safety Monitoring System (WSMS) will use a mobile trailer mounted camera system to capture footage of vessel operations and then process that footage (video and photographic) to determine if vessels have breached established waterway rules.
During the initial phase of the pilot program, no infringement notices or warnings will be issued. However, in future phases of the program, infringement notices or warnings may be issued to registered vessel owners that are not complying with established Waterway Rules.
The pilot will initially be trialled at the Patterson River Boat Ramp commencing Thursday 16 March 2023 to no later than 30 June 2023 - location information: Ramp 1, off McLoed Road Currum – Melway Reference 97, E7) focussing on the waterway between the mouth of the river to the boat ramp including parts of the surrounding carpark. Signage will be displayed on the trailer as well as entry/exit points to the carpark.
For further information on the WSMS pilot, or if you wish to view any footage we hold of you or your registered vessel, please contact information@safetransport.vic.gov.au or phone 1800 223 022.
For further information about how we will handle personal information, please see our Privacy Policy available on our website.
Waterway Safety Monitoring System (WSMS)
The primary purpose of the WSMS will be to:
- observe vessel operator compliance with marine safety laws, to ultimately improve safety for all waterway users
- monitor how effectively waterway risks are being addressed at a location by existing Waterway Rules
- identify whether previously unobserved (new) risks are prevalent at a waterway that need to be addressed (ie congestion)
- gather evidence to support the introduction of new or amended Waterway Rules or campaigns to address observed risks, and emerging vessel types and operations
- determine whether a breach of Waterway Rules has taken place by an operator.
The WSMS will use sophisticated machine learning algorithms to determine if specified criteria (based on Waterway Rules) are breached including:
- A vessel exceeding 5 knots on a waters (where a 5 knot speed limit apply)
- A vessel operating in a vessel prohibited area (primarily in front of life saving clubs)
- A PWC performing irregular riding in areas where irregular riding is prohibited
- A vessel operator not wearing a Personal Floatation Device (PFD)
- A vessel operating without current registration
Information collected by the WSMS will include vessel attributes (registration number, type, length, colour), vehicle and vessel trailer registration (as a by-product within the field of view of the cameras), and photographic/video information of vessel operators and passengers. This information will only be used if it is determined that waterway rules have been breached. All information will be stored in accordance with Victorian Government data security requirements.
If breaches to Waterway Rules are detected, the WSMS will generate a report for independent review by ST Vic Transport Safety Officers.