
Issue No 25		06 August 1999

News

Crew of Convenience Behind Sydney Oil Spill?

By Zoe Reynolds - MUA media office

Was it the crew of convenience system, ship owners cutting costs by employing third world seafarers on the Laura D'amata tanker, that is to blame for the oil spill in Sydney Harbour?

Until the investigation is complete, we can not say. But the Maritime Union is concerned this system of exploitation, even on an otherwise new and national flagged vessel and the resulting disaster, may be an oracle the Howard Government chooses to ignore.

At this stage rather than blame the workers (Italian officers and Filipino ratings), or jump on the Shell bandwagon and spread rumours of sabotage, the MUA has chosen to point the finger at Canberra, where the Government has for some time been thinking of emulating the Laura D'amata model. Yes, the Howard Government wants to allow shipowners to employ foreign labour on our ships, tugs, ferries and oil facilities. As well they would also allow ship's crew to replace Australian wharfies, loading and unloading vessels in our ports - legislation largely drafted by Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith. And while waiting to push the legislation through parliament they have been withholding funding to the Australian shipping industry so that one by one Australian ships are undercut by substandard operators and sold off to flags of convenience.

Indeed the oil spill in Sydney Harbour was both predictable (as the MUA has illustrated for the past three years) and inevitable, given the Federal Government policy of promoting foreign flag shipping at the expense of Australian shipping.

"The Laura D'amato was a shipping and environmental disaster in the making - a foreign flag vessel, with a third world crew of convenience. It was about as Italian as fried noodles," said MUA Deputy National Secretary Paddy Crumlin. "Last night's debacle is just another example of how cheap, cost-cutting measures can backfire."

Before the decline in Australian shipping, brought about by the vacuum in government funding, Australian harbours were largely insulated from maritime disasters. Indeed before the election of the Howard Government Australian shipping policy had been bipartisan and in the national interest - whether economic, environmental or social. "Now we have a government that has suspended all funding to the industry and is advocating abolishing cabotage which restricts foreign vessels carrying our domestic coastal trade," said Mr Crumlin.

This is despite a recent international study by Cardiff University in Wales which put Australian seafarers as the most highly trained and skilled in the world - even out-ranking European crews. It is also despite two government sponsored reports recommending reinvestment in the Australian shipping industry and US research which shows that fraudelant certification in the developing countries is rampant.

In his speech at the Whitlam Lecture Series in August 1997 Captain Bill Bolitho former head of ANL, the once government owned Australian shipping line, cited Professor David Moresby of the Institute of Marine Studies at the University of Plymouth, as demonstrating "that for $US300 it is possible to purchase a master's certificate perfect in every detail, except that the name is left blank for you to fill in. Mr Bolitho said approximately 20 per cent of the world's seafarers are now from the Philippines and ...90 per cent of them are sailing on worthless papers..."

Sadly until the government comes to its senses and reverses its policy of sabotaging Australian shipping and seafaring we will continue to see our coastlines, our harbours and our communities threatened by third world standards in shipping. It is ultimately Canberra's responsibility.

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  Issue 25 contents

Interview: Beneath the Arch
Arch Bevis has been given the job of charting Federal Labor�s agenda for the 21st century. He tells us where he�s heading.

Unions: What If the Bug Bites?
Health workers are planning contingencies for the Millennium Bug. Just in case...

Politics: It's a Wired, Wired World
Labor's federal IT spokeswoman Kate Lundy looks at some of the challenges for politics in the information economy.

International: Lufthansa faces Global Cyber-picket
270 workers sacked for a one�day strike - support the T&G campaign for human rights at Heathrow.

Satire: Outrage as Freed Killer Lives in House
Despite moving away from Waterloo Primary School, controversy continues to follow released killer John Lewthwaite after it was discovered that he is now living in a house.

Review: Reversing Union Decline
A leading labour thinkers asks: how do we turn back the membership tide?

» Unions Embrace Open Shop

» Council Sets Benchmarks for Vizard Deal

» Steggles Treats Workers Like Chooks

» Rail Workers on Collision Course with Carr

» Reith Shamed Into Talk On Entitlement Fund

» Unionists Asked to Defer NRMA Vote

» Fire Fighters Use Net

» Crew of Convenience Behind Sydney Oil Spill?

» Sixty Junkets Join Currawong Hit Squad

» Workers Table Petition for Gay Reform

» Indonesian Trade Union Leaders to Visit Australia

» International And Community Groups Oppose Reith�s Bill