The museum houses Tasmania’s largest and most varied collection of maritime artefacts.  Only a fraction of the collection can be displayed at any one time and the museum presents a regular series of temporary exhibitions exploring different maritime themes.

Two vessels of historic significance to Tasmania are managed by the museum.  The May Queen, the last floating example of a timber Tasmanian trading ketch, can be found moored in Constitution Dock, while museum volunteers are currently conserving Tasmanian designed and built yacht, Westward, the only Tasmanian yacht to win the Sydney to Hobart yacht race twice, in 1948 and 1949.

The museum has an expanding collection of over 100,000 photographs and numerous paintings representing colonial sail traders, whaleboats, warships, ketches, river steamers and modern catamarans.  The museum's extensive document collection includes maps and charts, logbooks, diaries and journals.