2015 Port2Port Down Under Rally – Message from Australian Border Force

by John Hembrow on 27 Sep 2015 2015 Port2Port Down Under Rally – I have become aware that there is some misinformation being spread that is causing some concern and trepidation amongst the international cruising community who are either considering Australia or have chosen Australia as their next international port.

One of theses issues has been that skippers/captains are concerned that if they join our rally and nominate Newcastle as their intended port of entry in Australia and then for any reason they decide to change their arrival port during their voyage that they may be exposed to penalties upon arrival for doing so.

This is not true

To satisfy this concern once and for all I posed this question to Michael Bourke of Australia Border Control (formally referred to as Customs ) in a recent email.

I have added the content of that email at the end for those who would like official clarification on this point.

As you will see from the reply the department of Australian Border Control and its officers are working closely with us to share information , answer questions and make your Australian arrival experience the best it can possibly be.

I urge you to contact Michael Bourke directly if you have any further concerns in regard to any matter relating to the process of arriving in Australia with your yacht, His contact details are at the end of his reply below .

I would also ask that if you know of someone who is or was considering Australia as their cyclone season destination but have become concerned or 'put off' by the 'rumours and gossip' that is being spread that you please invite them to also contact Michael directly and share their concerns.

My email to Michael dated 25/09/2015;

Hi Michael,

Have had a couple of inquiries over the past week or so from prospective rally participants saying that they are wanting to join the rally but concerned that if they note Newcastle as their intended port of arrival but change their mind whist on route due to weather that they will get in trouble with customs for not arriving in the port they nominated.

I have told them that they can nominate Newcastle as their intended port in their advance notification of arrival but if circumstances dictate they can in fact arrive at any port of arrival such as Coffs Harbour, Brisbane or Bundaberg without incurring penalties.

Can you please confirm this is correct and that they do not need to update customs if they change their intended port of arrival once on route?

Kind Regards,
John Hembrow

Michael's response to my email , dated 25/09/2015

Hi John,

Could you please impress upon potential participants that we are working with you to facilitate clearance into Australia and contribute to a successful event. Fining yachties and issuing penalties is not our motivation.

The pre-arrival notification that is sent a minimum of 96 hours prior to arrival certainly must be accurate in terms of who is on board but we are aware that the arrival port may be subject to change due to the winds. Once this notification is sent, the master of the vessel has met the legal requirement however we would like some courtesy shown with updates on any major changes. The ports you have listed are all designated as entry ports for arrivals from overseas and as such, yachts can choose to enter any of them.

For those yachts with comms on-board we would ask that they update us once they have made a decision to head for a different port. For those that have no method at all of communicating once at sea I would suggest that their pre-arrival notification be as accurate as possible at the time of their departure from Noumea so if the weather forecast they are looking at indicates to them that Brisbane is more likely than Newcastle they give us that advice before departing.

Providing staff to facilitate an efficient clearance of the yachts is what most of our preparation is about. Coffs Harbour, for example is a two man port for us, so to process yachts arriving there we may need to relocate staff from either Newcastle or Sydney. Early notification of a change of port will provide us with the ability to move staff to where they need to be.

Regards,

Michael Bourke
Senior Border Force Officer
Maritime Operations NSW | Newcastle District Office
Australian Border Force
P: 02 4926 7504 | M: 0439 629 633
E: michael.bourke@border.gov.au