Maritime Union backs calls for shipping lanes

 The uni­on that rep­res­ents New Zea­l­and ship­ping crews is back­ing calls for man­dat­ory ship­ping lanes on the New Zea­l­and coast.

Mari­time Uni­on of New Zea­l­and nation­al sec­ret­ary Joe Fleet­wood says there is real poten­tial for anoth­er Rena type ground­ing.

Wel­ling­ton based mar­ine expert John Rid­ing has detailed many recent near miss incid­ents by large ves­sels com­ing close to ground­ing on the New Zea­l­and coast and off­shore islands and reefs.

The Mari­time Uni­on is back­ing his call for ship­ping lanes to be put in place on the New Zea­l­and coast.

Mr Fleet­wood says that this is a basic meas­ure to tight­en up the mari­time industry.

He says there is enorm­ous time pres­sure to main­tain ship­ping sched­ules and this obvi­ously can con­flict with safety best prac­tice.

The same pres­sures are behind New Zeal­and’s bad health and safety record in many indus­tries that have been dereg­u­lated and where profit is put before safety, he says.

Mr Fleet­wood says that most large ves­sels on the New Zea­l­and coast are flag of con­veni­ence ves­sels, which increases risks due to lack of reg­u­la­tion in flag states, and in many cases are in poor con­di­tion.

“The New Zea­l­and coast is an unfor­giv­ing envir­on­ment and we should not wait for anoth­er Rena type situ­ation to move on this issue.”