WHARFIE BATTLE: Company goes to court to seek release of 13 workers forced into Darwin quarantine

The battle to release Darwin wharfies forced into Howard Springs quarantine by the government will go to court today.

THE battle to release 13 Darwin wharfies forced into Howard Springs quarantine by the government will go to court today.

The Maritime Union says Covid-19 testing cleared all seafarers on-board the container ship at the centre of the alleged biosecurity breach at the Port of Darwin.

It says independent Covid testing of all seafarers on-board container ship Tacoma Trader, arranged by the vessel’s operator, cleared the crew.

Maritime Union of Australia Assistant national secretary Adrian Evans said the crew’s test results confirmed that the detention of wharfies by NT Health had been a massive over-reaction.

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The chief health officer directed 13 port workers into 14 days’ mandatory supervised quarantine as a result of PPE breaches as they had boarded an international vessel where crew members were undertaking quarantine arrangements.

An interlocutory application by container terminal operator LINX, which employs the detained workers, will be heard at 10am by judge John Neill in the Northern Territory Local Court in Darwin.

The company is challenging the directions issued by NT Health, which the Maritime Union says forced terminal ­operations to grind to a halt.

It is seeking the immediate release of the workers from Howard Springs.

Health Minister Natasha Fyles stood by the NT Health decision.

“The safety of Territorians throughout this pandemic has and always will be our priority,” she said.

“I understand NT Health is working with the Maritime Union of Australia and crew in regards to infection control and risk management protocols.”

An NT Health spokesman said while no crew on board the vessel was reported as displaying any symptoms of Covid-19, asymptomatic transmission could occur on such vessels and so there was a risk to port workers, unless they were adequately protected.

“Port workers are therefore required to wear full PPE upon entering the vessel because Covid-19 is able to survive for many hours on surfaces,” he said.