Australia detains ships over labour row

Bloomberg

Australian authorities detained at least two cargo ships for alleged labour violations related to demands from seafarers to be sent home, some of whom have spent more than a year at sea.
The ships, which are or will be carrying materials for Cargill Inc and for an aluminum industry joint venture that includes Rio Tinto Group, will be detained until they can adequately address the violations, the
Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the shipping industry’s general practices for swapping crews, raising costs and creating logistical barriers that have made difficult conditions worse for vulnerable seafarers.
Unions say seafarers who have worked beyond their contracts can legally halt work and demand repatriation. The market should expect more of these kinds of supply chain disruptions if the crew-change crisis is not resolved, according to Peter Sand, chief shipping analyst at industry group BIMCO. As of now, an estimated 250,000 seafarers are working beyond their contract date.
“We can expect some more seafarers to join in on the demands,” said Abhinav Gupta,
research analyst at Braemar ACM Shipbroking. While some shipowners are being proactive in seeking to facilitate crew changes, doing so during a pandemic may create “operational challenges for vessels, leading to delays and tightening the fleet availability and thus pushing freight rates up,” he said.
The detention of the Unison Jasper, which was hauling alumina to the Tomago Aluminum smelter north of Sydney, “relates to the failure to ensure seafarers’ employment and social rights under Article IV of the Maritime Labour Convention, including payment of wages, crew repatriation and provision of fresh food,” the ASMA said in a statement. The smelter is a joint venture between Rio Tinto Group, CSR and Hydro Aluminium.
The vessel is on time-charter to Danish shipping services company Lauritzen Bulkers A/S, which sublet it to a third party, Chief Executive Officer Niels Josefsen said in an email. “Technical management, including crewing, remains with the owners of vessel,” he said.
The ship is owned by Emerald Shipping (HK) Co Ltd, currently operated by Unison Marine Group and chartered by Pacific Basin, according to the AMSA. Pacific Basin said in a statement that its “not involved in matters to do with the vessel’s ship management and crewing.”