Council raises communication concerns surrounding overseas ship it wasn’t told about until after arrival

THE Tiwi Islands Regional Council has raised concerns about communication surrounding COVID-19 quarantine arrangements at a remote port after it was not informed an international vessel was berthing at the facility until after it anchored

THE Tiwi Islands Regional Council has raised concerns about communication surrounding COVID-19 quarantine arrangements at Port Melville after it was not informed an international vessel was berthing at the facility until it had already anchored.

The Liberian bulk carrier Enterprise, travelling from Manila, anchored in Tiwi Islands waters on January 18, before berthing to collect logs harvested on Melville Island on January 27 and departing on February 6.

The 20 crew members disembarked for 24 hours on February 4, after completing 14 days of quarantine.

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Bulk carrier Enterprise, which berthed at Port Melville on January 27. Picture: Sergei Skriabin/Marine Traffic

The NT News understands NT Port and Marine — which operates Port Melville, the Tiwi Plantations Corporation, Tiwi Land Council and the NT government managed the vessel’s berthing in line with COVID-19 safety procedures, and were not required to inform the regional council.

But Tiwi Islands Regional Council chief executive Valerie Rowland and Mayor Leslie Tungutalum said councillors were concerned they had not been told in advance given the health risks posed by overseas vessels amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“I think it was just a case of poor communication, but you can’t do that when there’s a pandemic and this boat has come from a hot spot,” Ms Rowland said.

“We’re a small jurisdiction, and being a local government statutory body, we thought we should have been informed and alerted beforehand.

“My understanding is all the checks and balances were carried out. We were just left out of the loop.”