Admiralty & Maritime

About this NPA

The Admiralty and Maritime NPA incorporates proceedings that relate to admiralty or maritime disputes including:

in rem proceedings
in personam proceedings
marine insurance
cargo claims
other matters including matters relating to the Navigation Act 2012 (Cth) and the Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Act 2012 (Cth).

The Oar Mace of Admiralty

More About the NPA

Latest Judgments

Recent Judgments - Federal Court

29 Apr 2026: Ocean Network Express Pte Ltd v The Ship ‘Blue Fin’ [2026] FCA 555
ADMIRALTY – action in rem – application for leave to extend the time within which to serve writ
Judge: FEUTRILL J
22 Apr 2026: Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd v The Ship: Yangze 22 (No 2) [2026] FCA 476
ADMIRALTY AND MARITIME – application for stay of proceedings – whether Australia is a clearly inappropriate forum – where collision occurred in Chinese territorial waters – where several proceedings on foot in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with the same sub-stratum of fact – where party opposing the stay submitted to jurisdiction of PRC…
Judge: SARAH C DERRINGTON J
19 Sep 2025: Aeronautical Resource and Consultancy Pty Ltd trading as ARC Helicopters v CMA-CGM Société Anonyme au Capital de 234 988 330 Euros [2025] FCA 1156
ADMIRALTY AND MARITIME – Practice and Procedure – application for joinder of additional plaintiff pursuant to rr 9.02 and/or 9.05 of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) – where plaintiff brings a claim arising out of damage to cargo to be shipped from Melbourne to Malta pursuant to a waybill and for alleged contraventions of the Australian Consumer …
Judge: SARAH C DERRINGTON J

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Case Law

Latest Papers & Publications

28 Jul 2022: Admiralty and maritime seminar
Updates on UK, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.
18 Nov 2021: Navigating the rough seas of enforcement
AMTAC annual address, by Justice Stewart.
23 Sep 2020: World in a box: What legal issues might yet need to be resolved and by what mechanism?
Presented by video at the Australian Academy of Law "World in a box" online seminar, by Justice Sarah Derrington.

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Practice Notes

Central Practice Note (CPN-1)
Admiralty & Maritime Practice Note (A&M-1)

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Form & Rules

The key forms and rules for commencing these proceedings are:

Actions in rem

Forms:	Admiralty Form 6 – Writ Admiralty Form 8 – Statement of claim: Action in rem
Rules:	Admiralty Rules 15, 16, 19, 22(2) & 30

Actions in personam

Forms:	Form 15 – Originating application Form 17 – Statement of claim
Rules:	Federal Court Rules 8.01(1), 8.04(1) and 8.05(1)(a)

More Forms & Rules

Arresting a Vessel

Admiralty Marshals are available to arrest a vessel anywhere in Australia at any time on any day of the year.

This section details how to contact the registry and make an application for an arrest.

Legislation

Admiralty Act 1988 (Cth)
Admiralty Rules 1988 (Cth)

The admiralty and maritime work of the Court is not limited to proceedings under the Admiralty Act and Admiralty Rules, see also:

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Research Links

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National Coordinating Judges