The Maritime Union of Australia announced that the Australian Border Force (ABF) resume the Senate Inquiry into Flag of Convenience (FOC) Shipping, where the officials will discuss on the country’s maritime security issues.
The inquiry comes in the wake of double murder findings by the NSW Coroner, investigating the deaths of two foreign seafarers aboard the (FOC) MV Sage Sagittarius in Australian waters, in 2012. A third crew member was found dead in the vessel’s coal loader, when it arrived in Japan.
The murder ship’s captain, Venancio Salas Jr, did not warrant a red flag when he returned to work for eight months in Australian waters, despite him admitting to selling guns on board and being a person of interest in the coronial inquest.
International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) Australian Coordinator, Dean Summers, said: “Australia’s national security is increasingly at risk as we become more reliant on the dodgy FOC system for our domestic trade and fuel security”.
He also denounced that last month, the Federal Government dismissed all of the Senate Inquiry’s interim recommendations, which impedes national security and “encourages future exploitation of foreign workers.”
After a two-year investigation, the NSW Coroner recently released findings of the Sage Sagittarius case, recommending that the findings should be sent to Japanese authorities to investigate the third death.
