The industry association described the threat by the WA state government to turn away ships with seafarers onboard who have Covid-19, or are suspected cases, as “dangerous”.
Following recent cases of seafarers on vessels calling at WA found to have the Delta variant of Covid-19 the state government has proposed a series of even tighter rules than those already in operation that could see it turning ships away its waters.
SAL laid out three serious objections - it was immoral for the WA government expose seafarers onboard the vessel to the risk of serious illness and possibly death. It cited the state of Queensland as showing Covid cases from ships could be safely managed.
Second, was a concern that if the crew were sick the safety of vessel forced to turn around could be compromised leading to a collision or grounding causing environmental damage in WA.
Third, the economic importance of shipping to Australia with 99.92% by volume of all the country’s trade carried by sea.
"Shipping Australia calls upon the WA government to recognise the vital importance of shipping by adopting a pragmatic risk management approach with the aim of facilitating trade. We also call upon the WA government to ensure that sick seafarers have access to appropriate medical care," said Shipping Australia CEO Melwyn Noronha.
With its remote location by operating a hard border WA has managed to maintain being largely Covid free with just over 1,000 cases since the start of the pandemic. However, if ships were turned away due to Covid cases onboard they would face voyages of thousands of miles to reach medical facilities.
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