Press Release: Today is World Maritime Day and this year’s theme of ‘Sustainable Shipping for a Sustainable Planet’ is a fitting one for 2020, Australian Maritime Safety Authority Acting Chief Executive Officer Sachi Wimmer said.
“This has been a year of environmental, human health and economic crises, and the shipping industry has not been immune,” Ms Wimmer said.
“We are facing major challenges, from international shipping disasters to the impacts of COVID-19 on crew changes, but the spirit of cooperation and strength for which the maritime industry is well reputed, will ensure we rise to meet them.
“The three pillars of sustainability are environmental, social and economic and all of these are manifesting as challenges now.
“Nonetheless, we are making progress towards greater sustainability on all fronts in the maritime industry but there is more work to do.”
Ms Wimmer said reducing marine pollution was a priority area for Australia.
“In the last two years, major container spills from international ships have polluted Australian waters with plastic packaging and other harmful materials and this is in addition to ongoing pervasive pollution from plastics,” Ms Wimmer said.
“In May this year we successfully completed the largest shipping container spill clean-up in Australia’s history following the disastrous container spill from YM Efficiency back in 2018, which left more than 80 containers strewn across important fishing grounds off Newcastle.
“Just weeks later and under very similar circumstances, APL England dropped dozens of containers off Sydney. For weeks, face masks and other plastic materials washed ashore on some of Australia’s most treasured beaches, including Bondi.
“We have a world-leading system for responding to pollution incidents from shipping, but preventing such incidents from happening in the first place is just as important as reacting to them and we will be working with our international partners in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to do this.”
Ms Wimmer said Australia was strongly committed to reducing plastic pollution from the marine environment to safeguard Australia’s pristine waters, and the marine ecology. .
“Macroplastics like water bottles and fishing gear, and microplastics from synthetic products, persist in the marine environment and result in harmful effects on marine life and biodiversity, human health, tourism, fisheries and shipping,” Ms Wimmer said.
Australia took a lead role in developing the IMO’s Action Plan to Address Marine Plastic Litter from Ships and is strongly committed to developing the range of measures under the Action Plan, that will both reduce pollution and minimise the amounts of plastic carried by ships.
“We are also proud to have successfully reduced air pollution through the implementation of the 2020 sulphur cap – a measure that has significantly reduced the sulphur oxides from shipping fuel emissions. This improves air quality, particularly for the many millions of Australians who live in coastal communities near ports.
While we are addressing key environmental concerns, Ms Wimmer said we need to also balance that work with the wellbeing of people and economies. COVID-19 is placing an unprecedented amount of pressure on the maritime industry which is critical for trade and employment.
“Seafarers’ contracts are being extended by shipping companies due to border closures, a lack of aviation services and quarantine arrangements which vary around the world, making crew changes logistically challenging,” Ms Wimmer said.
“Seafarers are carrying an enormous burden to keep essential goods like food and medical supplies moving throughout the pandemic. Flexibility on contract extensions has been essential to supporting trade, but cannot continue indefinitely.
“Australia is well known for upholding seafarer rights to decent working and living conditions, and for our research into fatigue and human factors. We know that fatigue has contributed to a number of serious maritime accidents here in Australia and abroad.
“While hundreds of seafarers have been repatriated as a result of AMSA’s interventions in recent months, there are many more hundreds of thousands who are still out there on ships around the world.
“Both industry and governments have a responsibility to facilitate crew changes to ensure the health and wellbeing of our seafarers, and the safety of our seas.”
Ms Wimmer said World Maritime Day 2020 was a reminder to pause and reflect on the importance of having a truly and holistically sustainable shipping industry for a sustainable planet.
“We are all intrinsically connected to the ocean and it is our shared responsibility in partnership with industry, big and small, domestic and international, to ensure we have sustainable, safe and clean seas for many years and generations to come,” Ms Wimmer said.
