The Australian Government called on Beijing to help resolve a standoff involving an Indian ship carrying Australian coal that has been stranded for five months at a Chinese port.
To explain, the Indian-flagged vessel carrying coal from Australia arrived at the port of Jingtang in northern China in mid-June but has been waiting five months to be allowed to berth, according to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF). The ship is carrying about 160,000 tonnes of coking coal from Anglo-American’s Queensland mines, Guardian reported.
ITF commented that this incident is a humanitarian crisis, saying the 23 seafarers on board the vessel “Jag Anand” are “in need of urgent relief and are mentally and physically exhausted due to unprecedented prolonged stay on board”.
Now, the Australian trade minister, Simon Birmingham, raised concerns about the welfare of the Indian seafarers who remained on board, while making a broader appeal to the Chinese government to cease “what seems to be a recurring targeting of some Australian industries”.
The incident follows tensions between Australia and China, which has led to a series of trade actions.
Australia urges China to give clarity around the type of practices that are being applied in this situation, because this type of disruption and uncertainty is hurting not only Australian businesses, but those Chinese businesses who rely upon Australian product, concluded the trade minister.
