Unions circle Australia’s biggest export port after changes to the marine pilot policy

Nine emergencies in Australia’s most important export waters coincided with WA’s Pilbara Port Authority’s decision to ditch a marine pilot contractor and now a union is circling.

The Australian Maritime Officers Union has hinted at industrial action against the ports authority now that the non-unionised Port Hedland Pilots is gone.

Nine emergencies and near misses in Australia’s most important export waters have coincided with a decision by the Pilbara Port Authority’s to ditch a marine pilot contractor in favour of hiring its own people.

The WA government-controlled Pilbara Port Authority ended its contract with Port Hedland Pilots, the private company which had operated the pilot service since 1995, on July 1.

The termination of the long-running contract came after an 18-month transition period in which Port Hedland Pilots and marine pilots working for the government’s port authority guided iron ore carriers in and out of Australia’s busiest and most important shipping channel.

It is understood three port authority pilots were on board the Fortescue-owned FMG Nicola when it struck trouble in the vital shipping channel in February.

Fortescue triggered an emergency when the fully loaded Nicola broke down and threatened to block the channel also used by BHP, Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill and Mineral Resources to export iron ore, and by MinRes and PLS to export lithium.

The Australian revealed details of the emergency on Tuesday, including the role BHP’s tug fleet played in rescuing the Nicola and averting a disaster.

There are disputed claims the Nicola hit the channel’s undersea edge and that, although the vessel eventually continued its voyage loaded with about 260,000 tonnes of iron ore, divers checked the hull for any damage once it docked in China.

Fortescue Metals’ carrier the Nicola broke down and was in danger of blocking the channel.

The port authority has declined to name the vessels and companies involved in nine incidents involving ship engine failures and other problems in the six months to June 30.

In six of the incidents, vessel emergencies were declared and additional tugs called to assist.

BHP declined to comment when asked about the incidents and its operations at Port Hedland, but has the most to lose from any vessel grounding in the narrow and relatively shallow channel. The mining giant has not disputed The Australian’s report that it has been in talks with the port authority about channel works to reduce the risk.

The changes, in which Port Hedland Pilots lost its contract and the port authority moved to hire and train its own pilots, were approved by WA’s Labor government in December 2023.

The port authority has credited the new model with reducing shipping delays and increasing the number of marine pilots available.

However, the Australian Maritime Officers Union has flagged hitting the port authority with industrial action now that the non-unionised Port Hedland Pilots is out of the picture.

The union has said it is “inching closer” to signing enough ­pilots to take the port authority to the Fair Work Commission if it continues to refuse to enter into bargaining on an enterprise agreement. “The current common law employment contracts leave much to be desired, especially in terms of transparency, parity and equity in pay and conditions for the 28 marine pilots directly employed by the PPA (Pilbara Ports Authority),” the union said in a recent newsletter.

Port Hedland mayor Peter Carter said the vast majority of Australians had no idea about how important the safe and continuous operation of the town’s wharves and shipping channel were to the national economy.

Mr Carter said the port authority was pushing hard to get ships out as “fast as they can” in sync with the tides when asked about recent mishaps, including the emergency involving the FMG Nicola.

“If that channel is blocked, within six weeks Australia goes into a depression – not a recession, a depression,” he said.

Unofficial data published on Wednesday indicated both BHP and Fortescue shipped record tonnes of iron ore out of Port Hedland in 2024-25.

Originally published as Unions circle Australia’s biggest export port after changes to the marine pilot policy