The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) has welcomed a decision by Australian authorities to detain the Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier Xing Ning Hai in Devonport for hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.
What happened?
The 180m vessel ‘Xing Ning Hai’ had unloaded its cargo of gypsum but has been detained by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) after the recent discovery in the United States that the 22 Chinese nationals onboard are owed more than $250,000USD.
The shipowners had promised to pay the full amount they owed, upon leaving the United States but serious questions remain over whether the full amount has been paid.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has twice inspected the vessel this week to investigate the outstanding wages, while Hong Kong authorities have arrived in Australia for a joint inspection with AMSA.
Vessel detained
ITF Australian 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.
Mr.Summers said, “The ITF has sent a stern message the ship owner advising that we will proceed along the grounds that he will need to pay the crew in cash in an Australian Port in ITF presence as we do not trust the company to act in good faith. 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”.
Job security for Australians
A report by the Australia Institute into the Abbott/Turnbull Government’s coastal shipping legislation, which is listed for debate in the Parliament, estimates that only 88 Australian seafarer jobs would remain across the country if that legislation is passed.
MUA Tasmanian Branch Secretary Jason Campbell said, “The solution is simple – we need to support Australian jobs. We should be growing our domestic shipping industry not cutting it. Aussie seafarers live here, work here, pay tax here and support our local communities. The voters of Braddon deserve to know who will stand up for Australian seafarers. When he was Member for Braddon in 2015, Brett Whiteley failed to stand up for the workers on board the Alexander Spirit. We have no doubt that given the chance, he would fail to stand up for Aussie seafarers again”.
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Source: MUA
