A Panama-flagged bulk carrier that was scheduled to depart the Port of Newcastle in the early hours of Sunday morning, June 4, has been banned from re-entering Australia for 90 days after inspectors discovered a litany of critical defects about the vessel when it arrived in Geelong a few days ago.
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So serious were the conditions aboard the Babzua Wisdom that inspectors feared it could become standard in the open ocean, unable to call for help, or worse - would be incapable of rescuing an overboard crew member if the situation arose.
The Wisdom was initially detained in Geelong on May 17 after inspectors found the vessel's rescue boat engine was defective, and the reserve batteries that run its radio and distress apparatus were ineffective, among a series of systemic maintenance and reporting failures onboard.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority - inspectors for which conducted the audit on the vessel - confirmed on Friday that the defects had been fixed to a standard before the ship was released from detention in Geelong and allowed to sail to Newcastle, where the ship's master was issued with a refusal of access on arrival.
The Wisdom remained docked in the port's East Basin until its due departure at 2am on Sunday.
The Maritime Authority said it had repeatedly warned the ship's operator, Taiwanese company Well Shipmanagement & Maritime Consultant, that its vessels must meet minimum safety standards when entering Australian ports, but said in a statement on Thursday that the company had a sordid history of poor performance such that its detention rate was more than five times the average for ships visiting local waters.
A review of the operator's interactions concerning its other vessels visiting Australia over the past three years revealed a string of systemic failings and a "trend of unacceptable performance", the Authority said in its statement.
"We have repeatedly warned Well Shipmanagement & Maritime Consultant Company Ltd to ensure its ships meet the minimum international standards, and yet what we have seen is continued systemic failings which place the safety of seafarers and our environment at unacceptable risk," AMSA operations director Michael Drake said.
We have repeatedly warned Well Shipmanagement & Maritime Consultant Company Ltd to ensure its ships meet the minimum international standards, and yet what we have seen is continued systemic failings ...
- AMSA operations director Michael Drake
A defective rescue boat engine critically compromised the Wisdom's ability to respond to an emergency like a person overboard, Mr Drake said, adding "that alone would have been cause for a detention".
"Compounding this was the defective reserve batteries for MF and HF radio systems which means the ship had no radio back-up if it lost main engine power, which is a feasible scenario given its maintenance and reporting failures.
"That is why we have taken the step to ban Babuza Wisdom from Australian waters for 90 days, which will send an even clearer message to the operator about the gravity in which we regard our role as a safety regulator, and our zero-tolerance approach to sub-standard ships."
Simon McCarthy
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
