Government Contract Breached, or Deficient, and Minister Sturges Has 18 More Sleeps to Wake Up
The Tasmanian Greens today revealed that both vessels being operated in Bass Strait by Southern Shipping, under contract to the Bartlett Government, have been sailing with serious maintenance and safety issues, and called on Infrastructure Minister Graeme Sturges to reveal what he will do if the service collapses, an outcome that now appears inevitable.
Greens Member for Bass, Kim Booth MP, said the Southern Condor is breaching an order from Marine and Safety Tasmania (MAST) that prohibits the use of the loading ramp by vehicles with a wheel-load of more than six tonnes, and is also under another order from MAST to repair engine exhaust lagging, a main engine head gasket leak, and numerous oil leaks, also by 31 October.
Mr Booth also said that Southern Shipping’s other vessel, the Matthew Flinders, is currently under an order from the Australian Maritime and Safety Authority (AMSA) that prohibits her from sailing after 31 October unless she is slipped and a temporarily job on a hole in the hull is permanently repaired and inspected.
“Graeme Sturges must advise the Bass Strait communities what he will do in the event that their shipping service collapses, which seems inevitable given the maintenance and safety issues, as well as safety breaches, that the Minister Sturges failed to deny,” said Mr Booth.
“The Minister told Parliament today that the ‘minimum’ requirements of the shipping service contract have not been breached, but what kind of a deficient contract allows for this litany of ongoing safety, maintenance and service cover issues?”
“Apparently the only way Condor can sail at the moment is by swapping diesel for log transport, but the 4-wheel log loaders weigh 25 tonnes and 35 tonnes when empty, which is significantly heavier than the maximum six tonne wheel-load allowed by MAST. When asked about this today, the Minister failed to deny that this MAST order has already been breached.”
“AMSA have served an order on the Matthew Flinders that it must be put onto a slip to correct a temporarily repaired hole in its hull, and undergo a subsequent inspection, within the next 18 days, while the Condor requires numerous repairs and has also been breaching an order from MAST by using log-loaders that are heavier than MAST’s mandated maximum wheel-load. The continued operation of both of these vessels is in serious doubt.”
“The Matthew Flinders cannot be repaired and sail at the same time.”
“The Minister did not deny that the Bartlett Government’s contract to provide Bass Strait shipping has been breached by these major safety and maintenance issues on both of Southern Shipping’s vessels. If these problems have not breached the contract then the Bass Strait island communities deserve to know why their safety has not been factored into the government’s arrangements with Southern Shipping.”
“Alarmingly the Minister failed to deny that the Bartlett Government have no Plan B capable of being activated by the end of this month.”
“Bass Strait island communities deserve better from this tired government, their handling of the shipping service is a joke and they must immediately institute a decent service to prevent any further damage to the islands and their economies.”
“Instead of abusing me over this issue, Graeme Sturges needs to take action to ensure that the Bass Strait shipping service continues, that the deficiencies are removed from the contract, and that the litany of safety and maintenance issues are resolved immediately,” said Mr Booth.
Attached:
“Deficiency Report,” Marine and Safety Tasmania, 10 September 2009.
“Matthew Flinders Status,” Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Tasmania Office), 25 August 2009.
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AMSA_Report_K_Booth_ATTACH.pdf
boothOct13_MASTdeficiencyreport_K_Booth_ATTACH.pdf
Kim Booth MP Greens Member for Bass
