The murder of two sailors on board the Sage Sagittarius on its way to Newcastle in 2012 sparked a senate inquiry into the Flag of Convenience (FOC) shipping company and now it's been found to be posing a huge threat to our national security.
The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITWF) is calling on the government to step in and stop using FOC in Australia after the inquiry also found murder, gun-running, slave labour and harassment are just some of the things which happen on board. The inquiry found the Captain of the Sage Sagittarius was doing just that, ruling his ship with intimidation, but nothing was done.
The findings come one day after the Government announced they would create a Ministry of Home Affairs, but the ITWF National Coordinator Dean Summers doesn't think it will make a difference to the national security threats posed by FOC.
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| Sage Sagittarius Image wikipedia |
Dean Summers also says our national security is simply becoming vulnerable under the FOC shipping company. The organisation is accusing the Turnbull Government of replacing Australian seafarers with the lawlessness of FOC sailors probably because they're cheaper.
"Our national security have vulnerabilities when replacing Australians with Flag of Convenience. Even our Australian Border Force (ABF) has stated very very clearly Flags of Convenience offer Terrorist organisations and organised crime groups the capacity to operate within Australia and around Australia," said Dean Summers.
The committee at the inquiry also made mention they were very concerned that FOC vessels were carrying dangerous goods around Australia's coast, "including ammonium nitrate and petroleum products. Last financial year, only 1,072 of the 15,715 commercial vessels arriving in Australia were searched by ABF".
The committee has made several recommendations in a bid to stop the use of the FOC shipping company.
