Alexander Spirit Departs for Singapore

The Alexander Spirit fuel tanker has left from Devonport, Tasmania on Wednesday, 22nd July after the ship’s Australian crew spent over three weeks protesting their redundancies.

The ship was scheduled to depart at 0300 hours, and according to the latest vessel tracking data from Marine Traffic, the ship is underway using engine in the Tasmanian Sea, its destination being Singapore and estimated time of arrival set for August 6th.

The 36 crew members of the Caltex-owned tanker were told their upcoming voyage to Singapore would be their last as they had been replaced by a foreign crew.

The crew lunched industrial action protesting their job cuts only to be ordered back to work by the Australia’s Fair Work Commission (FWC).

The departure was delayed several times after the decision due to crew shortages and the ship finally set sail today.

The crew issued a statement ahead of their departure which was read out on Tuesday evening at the community protest in Devonport.

“When the crew compliment exceeds minimum manning it is our intention to sail, it has always been our intention to sail. This does not allay our anger and disgust at Caltex and other oil majors such aAlexander-Spiritss BP, Viva, Shell, and Mobil selling out Australian jobs,” the statement reads.

The Abbott Government is trying to remove legislation and regulation around the right for Australian seafarers to work on their own coast, which not only encourage investment in the local industry but also serve to protect our environment and prevent exploitation of overseas workers.

The fact is Flag of Convenience (FOC) shipping is bad for Australia; it is bad for the world. Evidence clearly shows that FOC and the absence of any clear regulation of labour standards , safety standards and environmental standards has proven to be the ultimate race to the bottom,” the statement further adds.

The crew called on the Maritime Union of Australia to take on a campaign that fights for jobs and job security and engage with communities to make this an election issue.

“We urge all members to engage with their branches nationwide to demonstrate to all oil majors that their decision to sell out Australian jobs and the right of Australians to work in this country is not acceptable.

Most importantly, we call on the community to not let the issue of jobs and job security sail out of Devonport with us on the Alexander Spirit,” the statement concluded.