if i was an Ozzy, i'd be more concerned about a ship saying it was carrying a load of Skippy stuffed animals when it was really a bomb than a ship TELLING you it was carrying half the makings of an ANFO bomb...
Posted on 09/27/2005 6:04:32 PM PDT by mdittmar
Labor has joined the Maritime Union of Australia in its call for tougher restrictions on ammonium nitrate shipments.
Opposition leader Kim Beazley was in Gladstone on September 1 to raise concerns over a Flag of Convenience ship carrying volatile ammonium nitrate on the Australian coast.
The Antiguan registered, Ukranian and Bulgarian crewed Pancaldo loaded 3000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a potential explosive, in Newcastle earlier in the week after being granted a single voyage permit to trade on the Australian coast.
"I am growing more and more concerned about the potential for foreign ships to operate in Australia's coastal waters without adequate vetting," says Beazley.
"I am particularly concerned about the risk posed by carriage of very dangerous substances, especially ammonium nitrate. It's becoming clearer that Australian authorities have no way of checking the bona fides of these foreign crews."
In 2004, 11,780 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was carried on the Australian coastline by foreign ships operating under permits with foreign crews. Yet a recent audit of the permit process found the checks were, claim the MUA, in shambles.
"The Government says we are at risk of a terrorist attack and according to recent polls the majority of Australians agree," says MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin.
"Yet this ship has been given the okay to trade on our coast.
"We've got rigorous security for the transport and storage of dangerous goods on land, but little to safeguard their passage by sea where flags of convenience, some of which are known to have been infiltrated by terrorists, are given carte blanche."
The Pancaldo has sailed from Mumbai through Singapore and Jakarta before arriving in Australia.
According to a new report by the International Commission on Shipping, the current system still presents almost endless opportunities for lawlessness and terrorism.
The Icons report mark II, by former Australian transport minister Peter Morris, reviews progress in the world shipping industry since the release of its first findings in March 2001.
It notes that despite evidence that terrorist networks have infiltrated shipping, the International Shipping and Port Security Code has failed to adopt recommendations for industry access to ship and cargo ownership to "pierce the veil of secrecy."
"Obscurity of ownership presents an opportunity for terrorists, providing them with the means to operate internationally," the report notes.
"As long as Governments pussyfoot on this issue, the risks and dangers remain".
It is a bitter shame that the entire "free world" is ruled by fear rather than a love of Freedom. Every day I become more ashamed of "leadership".
Me too. Where has the "Leave me the hell alone" coalition wandered off to when we need them most?
Good reason to be concerned but not paralyzed.
http://www.local1259iaff.org/disaster.html
We need more of the "Shores of Tripoli" action and to hell with what the cringing cowards of the world say.
They seem to not complain when they no longer have to pay "tributes" to the pirates.
As President Ronald Reagan said:
"there's no limit to what a man can get done...
as long as he doesn't mind about who gets the credit".
---Ronald Reagan
In other words - go in -take care of business - move out - shut up.
The terrorists will take advantage of any weakness,
"As long as Governments pussyfoot on this issue, the risks and dangers remain".
While you all get serious and whatnot, all I could think of when I read this title was the pool scene from Caddyshack.
Personally I'm concerned about our ports and the container ships that come in.
That was a funny scene,"dookey"!
if i was an Ozzy, i'd be more concerned about a ship saying it was carrying a load of Skippy stuffed animals when it was really a bomb than a ship TELLING you it was carrying half the makings of an ANFO bomb...
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