Australia Restricts Vessel Access Due to Underpaid Seafarers

In what is now the third ship to be banned from entry in 2021 into Australia, the Western Callao, a 45,600 cbm Singapore-flagged vessel was denied entry and detained for the past six months while the ships operator was instructed to pay wages which were delayed.

Tipped for complaints submitted, on September 6 an inspection took place by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) which revealed that at least 13 seafarers were underpaid a collective AUD $40k, and had not been relieved of ship duties in over 12 months although contract is 9 months.

It has now been reported that the seafarers aboard have been paid and the vessel was allowed to proceed onto Brisbane for crew change.