Coal Importing ìMurder Shipî Under Inquiry
A shipping firm currently under investigation over how two Filipino sailors were killed aboard a bulk carrier in Australian waters is now facing inspection following allegations the ship is a ìrusting hulkî breaching Australian safety rules.
The Sagittarius is one of thousands of bulk carriers that visit regional New South Wales and Queensland ports including those of Newcastle, Gladstone, Abbot Point and Mackay and more.
The timeline of events, reported by The Daily Mercury , began on the 30th of August 2012, when Filipino chief cook Cesar Llanto, 42, vanished overboard 800km north-west of Cairns.
Crew members claim he was reporting abuse suffered by a fellow seafarer, investigators found there was no way he could fall overboard, the ship was diverted to Port Kembla for investigation.
Fifteen days after the first death on the 14th of September 2012, Filipino chief engineer Hector Collado, 57, fell more than 10m to his death while the ship was docked at the Port of Newcastle.
On the 6th of October 2012, 37 days after the first death, Monji, 37, was crushed to death by conveyor belt machinery in Japan.
It wasnít until the 19th of September 2013, one year and 20 days after the first death that Panama published a confidential report into the three deaths.
Finally on the 16th of June 2014, New South Wales Coroner consider an inquest into Mr Llanto and Mr colladoís death in Australian waters.
Also being considered in the inquest is the death of a third sailer, Japanese superintendent Kosaku Monji, after he was killed on the Sagittarius just a few weeks after departing the Port of Newcastle.
The third fatality has the ITF calling the carrier ìDeath or Murder Shipî.
ITF Australia coordinator Dean Summers believes the life rafts he saw during the September inspection weren't capable of saving lives.
"If your ship is sinking, you would find some solace in the fact that emergency life rafts are going to open," he said.
"Under the circumstances I saw, they would not have opened."
The group identified emergency stop switches in need of repair, these are meant to activate when someone is at risk of injury or death from machinery.
"They were rusted and frozen and completely inoperable," Mr Summers said.
Lawyers for Japanese ship managers Hachiuma Steamship would not discuss the allegations.
Speaking from Tokyo by email, Hachiuma's Naoya Miyasaka said any claims relating to safety would be "taken very seriously".
"All such matters are dealt with through the many inspections carried out on-board the vessel during the year by ourselves, but more importantly, by a number of external and competent authorities," he said.
He said the safety of Hachiuma's crew and ships was its "primary concern".
More than 1600 pages of investigative notes from the Australian Federal Police, NSW Police, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and international authorities will be examined by the Deputy Coroner before the inquest begins in May next year.
