Upwards of 60 Australian longshoremen were stood down Tuesday after they refused to unload a container ship from China.
The Xin Da Lian docked at the DP World terminal in the Victoria state capital of Melbourne after leaving Shanghai on March 17. Union organizers claim the ship may be contaminated with coronavirus and should instead be held in quarantine.
The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) says the vessel is in breach of the federal government’s 14-day coronavirus quarantine period after visiting a Taiwanese port on March 19 during its voyage Down Under, local outlet News.com reports.
Workers say shaving two days off the quarantine period is “a risk to workers and the community” and those who refused to unload the vessel over concerns about the risk of the coronavirus were sent home.
DP World Australia chief operating officer Andrew Adam says the ship was cleared to berth by the Australian Border Force.
Irish President Roasted for ‘Demoralising’ St. Patrick’s Day Message That Replaces Christ with Wokeness
Trump Warns of Permanent Consequences for Every Lawmaker Who Votes Against the SAVE America Act
NYC $30 minimum wage proposal pushed by Mamdani would ‘obliterate’ certain industries: expert warns
Trump bids goodbye to intel official who resigned over Iran: ‘Good thing that he’s out’
The Stunning Story of How Irish Christianity Saved the World
Emerging Intel on Iran’s New Leader Is Hilarious, Painful, and May Well Be Deathly, Too – Apparently He’s Not a Smart Man
NYC rooftop fire casts shadow on St Patrick’s Day Parade
New names emerge in Jack Smith’s wide-ranging bid for GOP lawmakers’ phone records, unearthed emails show
Video shows panicked Spring Break crowds fleeing beach hotspot after reports of five weekend shootings
Top counterterrorism official resigns in protest of US war against Iran
German Law Student Sues for $100K Over Spicy NYC Taco – And That Was Just His Warm-Up Lawsuit
IDF claims it killed top Iranian official Ali Larijani and Basij commander in latest strikes
Trump admin asks Spanberger, Virginia officials not release illegal charged with groping high school girls
Trump voter ID push faces Senate test as GOP rebels threaten to sink bill
Organizations with strong ties to the Left influenced AI policy in a deep red state
“Any crew members aboard a vessel that has been to mainland China must have been at sea for 14 days before they are allowed to dock in Australia,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The union is not allowed to unilaterally declare a vessel unsafe. They are not allowed to create their own set of rules.”
MUA national assistant secretary Warren Smith said it didn’t want to see a repeat of Sydney’s Ruby Princess cruise ship debacle where the vessel was allowed to send all its passengers ashore without screening after it had docked.
“The largest cluster of COVID-19 cases in Australia … was the result of inadequate measures put in place for the arrival of ships,” he said in a statement as reported by local outlet 7News.
“What’s the difference with this ship?”
Story cited here.
