Australian Detention for Food Waste Dumping

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s decision to detain a Hong Kong flagged container ship which dumped food waste in close proximity to Fraser Island in May was affirmed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal at a hearing on Friday, November 25.

AMSA detained the vessel OOCL Le Havre in Brisbane after a Port State Control inspection on May 24 found that its Safety Management System had failed to ensure crew had an adequate understanding of the rules and regulations related to the management and discharge of garbage at sea in accordance with MARPOL.

The inspection also found that on May 23 crew dumped 0.08 cubic meters (2.8 cubic feet) of food waste into the ocean less than three nautical miles from the nearest land.

Orient Overseas Container Line, the owner of the vessel, sought review of AMSA’s decision to detain its vessel at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).

At the conclusion of the AAT hearing on Friday, the AAT affirmed AMSA’s decision to detain for a Safety Management System failure, finding that it was the correct and preferable decision in the circumstances.

AMSA Acting General Manager of Ship Safety Alex Schultz-Altmann said the AAT result upheld AMSA’s strong stance on protecting the marine environment from ship-related pollution.

“Ships operating in Australian waters must have adequate Safety Management Systems which detail the correct management and discharge of garbage at sea, as per MARPOL,”
Schultz-Altmann said.