The country’s top maritime safety authority on Friday detained a 180-metre vessel in Devonport over non-payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars to its Chinese crew.
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The Xing Ning Hai was impounded by the Australian Martime Safety Authority after a discovery while docked in the United States that crew were owed more than $338,400.
The Maritime Union of Australia welcomed AMSA’s decision.
“The shipowners had promised to pay the full amount of back pay owed upon leaving the United States, but serious questions remain over whether the full amount has been paid,” it said in a statement.
Hong Kong authorities have arrived in Australia to undertake a joint inspection with AMSA.
International Transport Workers’ Federation national co-ordinator Dean Summers said the vessel may be moved to another berth while the detention is ongoing and the ship could be suspended from operating on the Australian coast.
“Sadly, international shipping can be a murky industry, full of opaque ownership structures and a failure to meet proper environmental, safety and human rights standards and these Chinese seafarers are victims of that system,” he said.
The incident follows that regarding the Alexander Spirit, which sat in Devonport over three weeks in July 2015 after Australian crew refused to sail after learning they’d be replaced by a foreign crew once they reached the ship’s next destination in Singapore.
MUA state secretary Jason Campbell said many of the workers from the Alexander Spirit still had not found work and would have little hope if the federal government’s deregulation of coastal shipping proceeded.
Braddon Labor candidate Justine Keay said seafaring jobs were particularly important for families in the electorate.
“My dad was a seafarer and I understand the benefits that secure shipping jobs provide for local workers and their families,” she said.
Braddon Liberal candidate Brett Whiteley said all workers should be paid what they were entitled to.
“It’s clear AMSA has acted appropriately in detaining the ship to ensure the workers are paid what they should be,” he said.