SYDNEY, NSW, Australia, Feb. 9, 2020/Medianet International-AsiaNet/-
The sister ship of the YM Efficiency, which lost 81 shipping containers off the
coast of Newcastle and Port Stephens in June 2018, has been arrested in Sydney
today for a pollution debt that could reach as high as AUD $20 million.
At 06:50 (AEDT) on Sunday the Federal Court Admiralty Marshall arrested the YM
Eternity at Port Botany after AMSA petitioned the court to recover the
outstanding debt.
Both the YM Eternity and YM Efficiency are owned by a subsidiary of Taiwanese
shipping company, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp.
Yang Ming has refused to pay for the clean-up of the remaining pollution
including the containers and their contents which have been located on the
seafloor off the coast of Newcastle. 60 containers have been identified, five
containers have been recovered while a further 16 are still missing.
In December 2019, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) signed a
contract with Ardent Oceania, to begin the clean-up operation for those 60
containers. The contract is valued at about $15 million. Work begins in March
2020 and is expected to be completed within a month.
AMSA Chief Executive Officer Mick Kinley said the arrest of YM Eternity shows
that AMSA will not allow international shipping companies to pollute our waters
without consequence.
“If you pollute our waters and refuse to pay the price of cleaning up that
pollution, we will hold you accountable. Our ocean won’t pay the price of Yang
Ming’s pollution – Yang Ming will,” Mr Kinley said.
The anticipated cost to locate and clean-up the remaining missing 16 containers
is up to a further $5 million, bringing Yang Ming’s debt to $20 million.
Note - The YM Eternity was also detained by AMSA on 12 July 2019 in Sydney for
the same systemic failure to safely stow and secure cargo that led to the YM
Efficiency container spill.
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