THE MARITIME Union of Australia is maintaining its campaign against Carnival Cruise Lines in Australia, demanding the unionisation of the crews on Group ships operating in local waters.
The campaign, which has been active in Sydney for many weeks and generated multi-union protests in Melbourne last month extended to Darwin yesterday when Carnival Encounter was subject to an AMSA inspection, apparently prompted by MUA claims of crew whistleblowers alleging skin infections, unsafe drinking water and company doctors forcing crew to work while sick.
“This is exactly what happens when foreign companies owned by billionaires are allowed to operate in Australia, immune from Australian law,” union organiser Shane Reside said.
“Carnival flies in crew from some of the poorest economies on earth, where they’re trapped on board, subject to the complete authority of company managers.
“The MUA will simply not allow this to continue under our watch.”
An AMSA spokesperson aid the authority took the welfare of crew on board ships very seriously, and investigates claims and complaints of seafarer health and safety issues in line with the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), the Navigation Act 2012 and relevant Marine Orders, “and will take action if there are found to be breaches of the Convention.
“AMSA is currently looking into claims related to seafarers’ welfare on board a ship berthed in Darwin Harbour,” it said yesterday. In an update today the Authority said it had concluded its inspection of the vessel and a Report of Inspection has been provided to the Captain.
“AMSA will not be providing further comment on this matter,” the spokesman concluded.
Meanwhile, Carnival told the ABC AMSA found no deficiencies during its inspection, with no follow-up action required.
“We respect this process, and we hold our shipboard team members in the highest regard,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We welcome AMSA's oversight as an important assurance mechanism for our crew and our operations.”