[BITList] Unseaworthy Ships in Oz.

[M.j. Feltham]

Thursday, 22 August 2013 10:15 
A leading maritime company has launched a push to prevent 
hundreds of dangerous, unseaworthy ships from being detained 
at Australian ports. 
Australian Reef Pilots (ARP) has started providing ship safety 
audits at overseas ports to assess whether foreign ships bound 
for Australia are up to standard. 
ARP General Manager Alan Maffina said the Australian Maritime 
Safety Authority (AMSA) aimed to randomly inspect about 80 
per cent of vessels calling at Australian ports and would not 
hesitate to delay any that were not up to scratch. 
“195 foreign ships were detained in the year to May,” Mr Maffina 
said. 
“Most were held for a few days but several were tied up for 
more than a week and one was kept idle for 47 days while its 
faults were fixed. 
“These ships were found to have hundreds of deficiencies 
including defective air vents, broken fire extinguishers and outdated charts. 
“It is alarming when AMSA inspectors reveal that crews are 
unable to launch life boats or close engine room fire dampers.” 
ARP’s new inspection service aims to find the faults so they can 
be repaired before the ships reach Australia, saving time and   reducing the risk of an accident. 
“We are proud that Australia’s Port State Control is one of the 
world’s strictest regimes,” Mr Maffina said. 
“It needs to be to protect our precious marine environments 
from any unnecessary threat. 
“Ship owners must also weigh up the cost of having a ship 
detained which, in the current shipping market, could cost up to 
$25,000 a day. That doesn’t take long to rack up an enormous 
bill. 
“ARP is committed to protecting our coastline and proud to be 
known as Guardians of the Reef. We urge all foreign ships to 
take advantage of this pre-inspection service.” 
AMSA Ship Detention List - Most Common Deficiencies: 
° Damaged ventilation and funnel dampers in engine room 
° Poor/non-existent lifeboat operations 
° Unmaintained fire equipment 
° Sewage plant failure 
° Sub-standard safety and fatigue management 
° Out-dated voyage charts