Coronavirus: Fears for Port Botany wharfies raised by union
At least eight container ships from China are set to dock at Port Botany in the next week. However, union bosses have warned ‘inadequate’ coronavirus port protocols could be putting us all at risk.
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Ships arriving at the state’s largest container port are being asked to “self identify” any symptoms of coronavirus among crew members – a protocol which has been slammed by a maritime union for failing to protect wharfies.
The Port Authority of NSW says strict safety protocols are in place for foreign ships arriving at Port Botany in Sydney.
Shipmasters must complete a coronavirus checklist before any port workers will board their ship.
Under the safety protocol, a shipmaster must declare whether the ship or a crew member has visited China or Iran in the past 14 days, if a crew member is ill or has any symptoms of coronavirus, or if a crew member has been in contact with anyone with coronavirus.
“Where novel coronavirus is suspected, our employees will not be required to board the vessel,” a Port Authority of NSW spokeswoman said.
“If there are any indications on the declarations that there are symptoms on board, this information will be passed onto state biosecurity teams and NSW Health.”
She said the protocol followed advice set by federal and state agencies and no ships at Port Botany had self declared a coronavirus concern to date.
However, the Maritime Union of Australia, which has about 800 members working at Port Botany, said the current protocol is not stringent enough to protect wharfies.
Maritime Union of Australia national safety and training officer Jake Field said the clear problem with the protocol was it relied on foreign crews to “self identify”.
He said many shipping crews were from third-world countries and were at risk of losing their jobs or risking their safety if they put their neck out and flagged any coronavirus concerns.
“It expects them to put their hand up and interfere with shipping windows,” he said.
“We have been concerned from day one that the self declaration of the shipmaster is inadequate.”
He called for the Federal Government to put better protocols in place including foreign ships being checked by a biosecurity professional when they arrive at a port.
“I’m sure the push back will be ‘are we supposed to inspect every ship that comes into a port?’
“But you have a global pandemic and maybe you are. How keen are we to protect the spread of this virus into the community?”
Mr Field said it was not unusual for port workers to go on-board a foreign ship and see crew members wearing masks yet have little to no information about what they were walking into.
“We are not health professionals and we are not trained human biosecurity officers yet we are put in situations all the time where we have to detect biosecurity threats.”
Mr Field said it was common to have 15 to 20 wharfies boarding a ship when it arrives at Port Botany.
Within the next week, eight ships are due to arrive at Port Botany which have visited China in the past month. Another two ships have visited South Korea in the last month.
The Port Authority of NSW confirmed it took longer than 14 days for a vessel to arrive from China to NSW – which is the maximum amount of time it takes for symptoms to show for someone with coronavirus.
However, Mr Field said that did not take into consideration crew members potentially linking up with a ship after flying from China to a port en route to Australia.
Ships due to arrive at Port Botany during the coming week which have been in China during the past month:
Saturday: APL Denver (container ship) last stop Melbourne
Saturday: Maersk Danube (container ship) last stop Hong Kong
Sunday: YM Vancouver (container ship) last stop Taiwan
Monday: CMA CGM Puget (container ship) last stop Melbourne
Wednesday: OOCL Dubai (container ship) last stop Hong Kong
Thursday: ANL Gippsland (container ship) last stop Hong Kong
Friday: CMA CGM Mozart (container ship) last stop Melbourne
Friday: LR2 Eternity (oil tanker) last stop China