The Guardian 15 November, 2006
Records of convenience
Flag of convenience ships, invited onto the coast by the Howard Government, claim to pay seafarers more than three times what they are actually getting.
The rip-off was exposed in Newcastle last weekend, when International Transport Federation (ITF) inspectors busted the Maltese flagged coal carrier, Caravos Horizon, for fraudulent book keeping.
One set of accounts, for authorities, purported to pay a Filipino seaman US$1059 a month, under the terms of an international agreement. But ITF digging unearthed a second set of figures that revealed the man was actually receiving US$342 a month.
"It is fraud, pure and simple", ITF Australian coordinator, Dean Summers, said. "It is a systematic method of defrauding seafarers of their rightful income. It raises other concerns about the way these people operate.
"If they lie about wages, what else are they lying about?"
Summers said the true records, taken from the ship, revealed some seafarers had been on board for 22 months without a day off.
The Caravos Horizon arrived in Newcastle with a predominantly Filipino crew of 23. "If you have a crew that has been on a vessel for 22 months straight, and you’re paying less than half the minimum rates, there has to be room for evildoers to encourage these guys to smuggle or do things they wouldn’t normally do", Summers said.
"The same sort of ships carry ammonium nitrate around our coast on federal government permits. The flag of convenience system can be a security risk and regulations need to be tightened up."
Meanwhile, authorities were forced to deal with the case of a loose monkey aboard another Australia-bound vessel. Lloyd’s List reported the creature had gone AWOL on the high sea, somewhere between China and Australia.
It quoted an Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service spokesman as saying the monkey must be put down. Believed to be a Macaque, a species known to carry rabies and encephalitis, the stowaway had gone to ground, evading two full crew searches.
The AQIS officer said if his organisation couldn’t be convinced of the animal’s demise, the un-named vessel would be restricted to an off-shore buoy, while AQIS carried out a search.
Summers said no monkeys were members of maritime unions, anywhere in the world.
"Even so", he said, "if it had been on the Caravos Trader, I’m sure the captain would have been able to produce a signed copy of its wage documents."