Crew signing-on

From 1 July 2007, where crew wish to sign-on a vessel in Australia there are a number of requirements that must be met.

Customs Form B522 Seaports - Notification of Sign-On

Customs has introduced a new 'Seaports - Notification of Sign-On' (Customs Form B522).  The form contains certain bio-data details of crew wishing to sign on to a vessel.  It has been introduced to allow Customs to perform an appropriate risk assessment and to check a crewmember's lawful status prior to signing the crewmember onto the vessel.

This form must be submitted (by hand, fax or e-mail) to the local Customs office 24 hours prior to the expected sign-on taking place.  Failure to submit the form, 24 hours in advance may result in delays in Customs attendance for sign-on or delays during Customs sign-on processing.  Where agents/masters receive notice less than 24 hours prior to a crew change-taking place, it is expected that they will provide this form to the local Customs office as soon as possible and provide a reason for the late notice.

The new form includes the following data:

• Vessel details;
• Crew bio-data;
• Expected sign-on date and time;
• Includes the question: "Australian Maritime Crew Visa holder? Yes/No".  This is an opportunity for the master/agent to provide Customs with an indication of whether or not crew are believed to hold an Australian Maritime Crew Visa.

After providing this form to Customs, agents/masters will still need to make contact with the local Customs office to determine where and when the actual sign-on processing activity will occur.  The sign-on processing may occur on board the vessel, at Customs House or some other location as advised by Customs.

It should be noted that for crew to sign-on a vessel, the vessel must have arrived in Australia (eg. be in a Customs S.15 port, be at an Australian Resource Installation, etc).  Crew attempting to sign-on a vessel that has not yet arrived in Australia (i.e. before its first port arrival) or after it has departed Australia (i.e. after its last port departure), are to be treated as passengers, and are ineligible to utilise their MCV to be considered lawful in Australia.  Agents/masters are to utilise the same form to advise Customs of 'sign-ons' occurring under these circumstances. Where crew do join a vessel prior to its arrival in Australia, and the vessel then arrives in Australia - they will be outwards cleared as a passenger when joining the vessel and then cleared inwards as crew when the vessel eventually arrives.

Crew sign-ons to a vessel that is between ports in Australia can be approved subject to master/agents obtaining relevant permissions from the local Customs office.

Where crew are awaiting a sign-on to a vessel in Australia and are currently on a short-term visa (eg. transit visa - period is only 3-5days) and they have concerns that they may not sign-on to a vessel prior to the expiry of their period of stay, it is important that advice is sought from Customs or DIAC to determine options for extending that period of stay for those crew.