New marine safety system for the Maroochy River

A new marine safety system is now in place on the Maroochy River.

Some key elements of this new system are:

• new and improved warning signs to warn waterway users of specific hazards or obstructions
• new and improved signs for speed limits
• new speed limits of 6 knots for all vessels in the upper reaches of creeks
• a new speed limit of 20 knots for all vessels upstream of the David Low Bridge through shallow areas near the Wetland Sanctuary and the Bli Bli Islands
• some new water skiing prohibitions, including an area of Eudlo Creek where only boats up to 6.1m with 1 tow line may water ski on the creek.

These changes complement existing marine safety and waterways management legislation. They also provide a simple, cost-effective regulatory system to advance marine safety on an important Sunshine Coast waterway. The changes have been implemented following 2 reports, extensive pubic consultation and many hours work by a reference group of key community stakeholders

Maps of new speed limits and water skiing prohibitions

The new maps below show the new speed limits and water skiing prohibitions, along with the new system of regulatory and warning signs.

• North and south Maroochy River to Brown’s Rocks (area 1) (PDF, 89 KB) 
• Brown’s Rocks to near Dunethin Rock (area 2) (PDF, 74 KB) 
• Near Dunethin Rock to the cane train bridge (area 3) (PDF, 58 KB) 
• Cane train bridge to downstream of Coolum Creek (area 4) (PDF, 115 KB) 
• Downstream of Coolum Creek to David Low Bridge (area 5) (PDF, 143 KB) 
• David Low Bridge to upstream of Sunshine Motorway Bridge (area 6) (PDF, 167 KB) 
• Upstream of Sunshine Motorway Bridge to Maroochy Bar (area 7) (PDF, 207 KB) 
• Coolum Creek (PDF, 129 KB) 
• Petrie and Paynter Creeks (PDF, 143 KB) 
• Eudlo Creek (PDF, 231 KB)

Download the final report

• Ship operations and activities on the Maroochy River – final report to the General Manager (PDF, 4.12 MB)
  Due to the file size, this document has also been divided into parts for easy download. As a result, links in the document may not work.
  • Table of contents (PDF, 91 KB) 
  • Sections 1 to 9 (PDF, 309 KB) 
  • Section 9.1 (PDF, 440 KB): Area 1—North and South Maroochy Rivers to Brown's Rocks 
  • Section 9.2 (PDF, 297 KB): Area 2—Brown's Rocks to near Dunethin Rock 
  • Section 9.3 (PDF, 236 KB): Area 3—Near Dunethin Rock to the cane train bridge 
  • Section 9.4 (PDF, 473 KB): Area 4—Cane train bridge to downstream of Coolum Creek 
  • Section 9.5 (PDF, 489 KB): Area 5—Downstream of Coolum Creek to David Low Bridge 
  • Section 9.6 (PDF, 313 KB): Area 6—David Low Bridge to upstream of Sunshine Motorway Bridge 
  • Section 9.7 (PDF, 430 KB): Area 7—Upstream of Sunshine Motorway Bridge to Maroochy Bar 
  • Section 10 (PDF, 274 KB): Coolum Creek 
  • Section 11 (PDF, 312 KB): Petrie and Paynter Creeks 
  • Section 12 (PDF, 473 KB): Eudlo Creek 
  • Appendix 1 (PDF, 54 KB): Recommendations
  • Appendix 2 (PDF, 320 KB): New signs 
  • Appendix 3 (PDF, 53 KB): Queensland legislation 
  • Appendix 4 (PDF, 54 KB): Marine incident data 
  • Appendix 5 (PDF, 28 KB): Glossary

Decisions on the final report's recommendations

Read the General Manager's decisions on the final report's recommendations (PDF, 66 KB).

Maritime Safety Queensland sought further comments on the final report – the closing date was Monday, 13 February 2011.