Indonesian Cargo Ship Banned from Entering Australia

File image via Maratus

Indonesian shipper Meratus Line has been flagged by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) due to repeated compliance issues related to one of its multi-purpose cargo ships, Territory Trader.

The AMSA has banned the Territory Trader from entering or using any port in Australia for three months as a result of repeated detentions and a history of machinery and equipment malfunctions, and breakdowns.  These issues have prompted serious concerns by Australian officials the vessel is not being operated or managed to meet applicable standards

AMSA Chief Executive Officer Mick Kinley said the vessel is a regular caller into the port of Cairns, with 12 port visits this year.

“This vessel has a poor history of complying with international safety conventions in Australia and is known to transit the environmentally sensitive and highly protected Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait area,” Mr Kinley said.

“For these reasons the vessel was considered high risk and a non-scheduled port state control inspection was undertaken.”

The direction was made under the Navigation Act 2012 and expires on February 18, 2015.

This is the second vessel banned from Australian ports since the revised Navigation Act came into effect last year.

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