THE way Taiwanese company Yang Ming and its insurer Britannia P&I see it, the 76 shipping containers that fell from a cargo ship off the Hunter coast in 2018 aren't pollution.
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If you follow their argument the containers are now part of the environment, sitting inertly on the seabed until the end of time. Not swimming with the fishes. Just resting.
Where exactly the shipping containers are, Yang Ming and Britannia P&I don't know. Nor what condition they're in.
The containers are a long way from Taiwan, seems to be the most relevant point. The people who care are in Australia, which is why the Australian Maritime Safety Authority has awarded a $15 million contract to recover them in an operation starting in March.
AMSA yesterday said it would send Yang Ming the bill and expect payment within 30 days or it will be pursued in court. How exactly that will play out has not been explained. Yang Ming's Australian representative, Aus Ship Lawyers & Correspondents, wasn't saying anything this week.
On its website Britannia P&I says it is the oldest protection and indemnity insurer "club" in the world, that has "gone from strength-to-strength" since 1855 by "embracing our core values of integrity, trust, specialisation, excellence and mutuality, meaning our members always come first".
That might be good if you're a member, but not so good if you're the overseas destination left to clean up a member's mess.
The insurer boasts of the "Britannia Way" of doing things, and says it takes its impact on the environment "very seriously". But it seems to define the environment as the area taken up by its offices. Britannia P&I recycles and is responsible when it comes to its paper and energy consumption.
That's not much help here in Australia where Britannia P&I's member's shipping containers have been abandoned after falling into the sea.
The community expects that Yang Ming will be pursued over allegations it incorrectly loaded the ship, leading to the spill.
Two positives this week are the news that Ardent Oceania managing director Drew Shannong, who oversaw the salvage of the Pasha Bulker from Nobbys Reef in 2007, has the contract to clean up after the Yang Ming, and believes the majority of the containers are "still somewhat intact".
Issue: 39,482.
