The Keep Clear of Big Ships campaign is an important maritime safety initiative led by Ports Victoria, designed to protect recreational boaters operating in and around Victoria’s busy commercial shipping channels.
First launched under Ports Victoria in 2021, the campaign builds on more than a decade of water safety education aimed at reducing dangerous interactions between small recreational vessels and large commercial ships.
With more than 225,000 registered recreational vessels now operating across Victoria, waterways such as Port Phillip Bay, Geelong and Western Port are busier than ever. The campaign focuses on educating boaters about the serious risks of entering designated shipping channels and Transit Only Zones (TOZs), where large vessels have limited ability to manoeuvre or stop quickly.
At the heart of the campaign is a simple but critical message: Keep Clear of Big Ships. Many recreational boaters underestimate the dangers posed by commercial ships, including blind spots, deceptive speeds, powerful wakes and extended stopping distances. A large ship can require up to 1.6 kilometres to come to a complete stop, making last-minute avoidance impossible.
We partnered with Ports Victoria to give the message a voice people would actually hear and listen to. The typography does what the ships do, it takes up the entire frame. It’s a campaign about scale, so scale became the visual language rather than the subject.
The campaign combines on-water patrols, education programs, social media, signage, radio advertising and community engagement to drive safer boating behaviour. During the 2023–24 season alone, Ports Victoria conducted 941 patrol hours and engaged directly with hundreds of recreational boaters across Victorian waters.
Ultimately, the campaign is about creating a stronger culture of maritime safety through awareness, education and proactive engagement. As boating participation continues to grow, the message remains clear: staying safe on the water starts with keeping clear of big ships.
Learn more about Keep Clear of Big Ships at Ports Victoria, or see the campaign on LinkedIn.
