Lack of crews and facilities hamper shipping

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

29 Apr 2008

A parliamentary inquiry into Australia's coastal shipping policy has raised concerns about crew shortages and a lack of berthing facilities in Tasmania. Shipping experts and operators have put forward submissions to the inquiry in Launceston today. Geoffrey Gabriel from Southern Shipping, based at Bridport, told the committee, most berthing facilities in Tasmania are locked up with multinational companies, which restricts business opportunities for the smaller operators.
Mr Gabriel says there are also concerns about crew shortages.
"There is an acute shortage of rated officers and to increase coastal shipping in Australia we'll need to import at least for our company 40 overseas officers," he said.
The Director of the Australian Maritime College Maritime Transport Policy Centre, Barrie Lewarn, told the inquiry reform of Australia's coastal shipping policy is urgently needed.
Dr Lewarn says there needs to be a stronger operating regime in order to make shipping in Australia more competitive internationally.
"It's a system called second registers and it just sets up a series of ways which they can treat profit, pay tax, employ people, by so doing it would assist an Australian operator to become internationally competitive," said Dr Lewarn.

Source: ABC News