Shipping

Maritime workers fear they are being put at risk of exposure to the deadly coronavirus as a result of the arrival of container vessels from mainland China, which in some cases are docking in breach of the Federal Government’s 14-day travel ban.

Workers at Melbourne’s Webb Dock were alarmed following the arrival of the container vessel. An inspector from the Maritime Union of Australia was initially told it had sailed from another Australian port, but it was subsequently discovered that the vessel had actually departed Ningbo in mainland China.

Darwin maritime workers fear they are being put at risk of exposure to the deadly coronavirus due to the imminent arrival of a container vessel that departed mainland China earlier this month, in clear breach of the Federal Government’s 14-day travel ban.
The Singapore-flagged Kota Nebula visited a series of ports in China in early February, including areas with confirmed coronavirus cases, before departing the port of Nansha on February 3.

Launch Of Australian-First Service To Address Seafarer Isolation

An Australian-first initiative to provide a WIFI signal and internet access for visiting Seafarers on ships visiting Australian ports called “Seafarer Connect” has been launched in Sydney at a meeting of the International Transport Workers' Federation Offshore Task Force and Cabotage Committees.

An initiative of the not-for-profit Tas Bull Seafarers Foundation (TBSF), a trial of the programme at Port Botany for the past three months has proved to be an outstanding success.

SENATOR CAROL BROWN

SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGIONAL TOURISM

SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TASMANIA

AUSTRALIAN CIVILIAN VESSELS AND CREWS VITAL IN BUSHFIRE CRISIS 

The bush fire emergency has brought out the best in our community.   

Australian shipping is playing an important part in the relief effort following the devastating fires in NSW and Victoria.

Maritime Union of Australia National Secretary Paddy Crumlin said the crew of the Norwegian-flagged Far Saracen supply vessel was tasked by the Victorian Emergency Co-ordinator to deliver much needed relief supplies to 4,000 people stranded by bushfires in the Victorian town of Mallacoota.

“Australian and Kiwi seafarers were the first on the scene with much needed supplies of food, water and diesel,” Mr Crumlin said.

The repeal of legislation related to the former publicly-owned shipping company Australian National Line, which was sold to a French owner, highlights the ongoing failure of the Morrison Government’s to support a strong domestic shipping industry.

The primary aim of the ANL Legislation Repeal Bill, which was debated in the Senate today, is to remove the legal protection for a number of business names formerly used by the Commonwealth shipping company, including: ANL; Australian National Line; Maritime Agencies of Australia; and Searoad.

The NSW Government is being urged to explore the fast-tracking of dredging for the proposed Port of Newcastle liquified natural gas import terminal, with the extracted river sand used to restore Stockton beach.

The Maritime Union of Australia said dredged sand from the Hunter River, which would have naturally joined Stockton beach before the port was constructed, offered a fast, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable solution to address the current erosion crisis.

We invite you to join us on World Maritime Day... A time to reflect and remember

Meet on the city side of Pyrmont bridge at 12 noon. 

A ceremony will be held in front of the anchors at the Australian National Maritime Museum followed by a function nearby. 

Call the Branch and speak to Jeanna for more information

In a decision clarifying the interplay between model terms and agreement clauses, a shipping company facing multiple challenges to alleged redundancies has failed to convince an FWC full bench that a model clause cancels out consultation requirements in its agreement.

Vessel management and technical services provider Teekay Shipping (Australia) Pty Ltd is defending claims by about 20 former employees that their redundancies, carried out after BHP terminated a contract to ship coal and iron ore in January, are in fact unfair dismissals.

The International Transport Workers' Federation has requested the Australian Maritime Safety Authority urgently investigate after seafarers on a vessel docked at Port Kembla reported that they had not been paid in more than two months.

The Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier MV Xing Ning Hai, owned by Chinese company Ocean Prosperity and managed by Dalian Shipping, is in Port Kembla to carry steel from Bluescope.
Sister-vessel MV Xing Jing Hai was yesterday detained by AMSA in the Port of Brisbane following almost-identical allegations of unpaid wages.