The boat most often in trouble is a small open one: a tinny in the estuary, a kayak rigged for fishing, a trailer boat heading out past the bar. Often there’s no marine radio and no beacon, just a phone. VesselSOS makes that phone count: a live link for whoever’s waiting at home, and an SOS screen with your position, a script that starts with “Police” and a one-tap Triple Zero (000) call.
On your own at five in the morning, anchored over a reef or drifting a flat, and nobody at home knows more than “back by lunch”. The live link changes that: your position and battery in their browser, with no app to install and no account. If the dot ends up where it shouldn’t be, they see it happen.
Most states make you wear one in a small open boat at the risky times. Queensland: when you’re alone (or only with kids under 12) in an open boat under 4.8 m that’s underway, between sunset and sunrise, and crossing a designated coastal bar. NSW, in a boat up to 4.8 m: alone or after dark on enclosed waters, and at all times on open waters and crossing a bar. Victoria: at all times underway in a powerboat up to 4.8 m. SA: at all times, underway or at anchor, in a motorboat of 4.8 m or less. The NT has no general wear rule for a tinny, which is all the more reason to wear one. Full table: lifejacket rules by state.
NSW and Queensland make everyone in a small open boat wear a lifejacket crossing a coastal bar, and Victoria counts an ocean bar as heightened risk for boats up to 12 m. Offshore, every state wants an EPIRB on board (WA also accepts a worn GPS PLB), and beyond 2 nm NSW and Victoria want a marine radio too. Log on with Marine Rescue before you go: how logging on works.
In the Top End, tidal rivers and estuaries are saltwater crocodile country. Marine Safety NT publishes crocodile safety advice for boaters, so read it before you launch. If something goes wrong up a creek, a live link tells the people at home exactly where you are.
A flat battery or an outboard that won’t start is a tow: call your local Marine Rescue unit (in Queensland, 131 MRQ). The app doesn’t list an Australian tow service yet, so save the number before you go. When to call which is spelled out in broken down: who to call. When it genuinely is life-threatening, it’s one tap on SOS, one yes/no question, and the app dials 000.
A lifejacket does the surviving; the app does the finding. VesselSOS is an aid, not a rescue service: in immediate danger, call Triple Zero (000), or use VHF channel 16 if you carry a radio.
Yes. In all Australian waters, coast, rivers, lakes and dams, “Yes, a life is in danger” dials 000, and the script starts with “Police”. The call needs mobile coverage; your position doesn’t.
It depends on the motor and the state: in Queensland and WA above 4.5 kW (6 hp), in Tasmania from 4 hp, in NSW when you go 10 knots or faster, and in Victoria and SA for any powered boat. The NT needs none. Our boat licence by state page has the details.
One big SOS button, then one yes/no question, and the app dials as soon as you tap Yes. It’s built to work when your hands aren’t at their best.
Pick motor boat for a tinny, runabout or centre console (the other types are sailing boat, SUP/kayak and jet ski). Its name, length and colour go into the call script, and its name into the texts you send.