A local shipping expert has warned of potential impacts to government projects like the Murdoch Medihotel, ahead of strike action scheduled at Fremantle Ports this week.
A local shipping expert has warned of potential impacts to government projects like the Murdoch Medihotel, ahead of strike action scheduled at Fremantle Ports this week.
News broke late yesterday of a plan by workers aligned with the Australian Maritime Officers Union to strike for 48 hours from Sunday morning, in a move which could grind port activity to a halt.
Should it go ahead, the delay would have impacts not only at Fremantle but at the outer harbour in Kwinana and could lead vessels to divert to the east coast to unload containers.
Fremantle Ports has assured the government it is doing all in its power to mitigate the impacts of the planned strike action, with Premier Roger Cook conceding the government was concerned by the union’s decision in a press conference today.
That concern is well-placed, according to EES Shipping managing director Brian Hack, who told Business News that a 48-hour delay at the port could compound and impact the supply of goods into the state.
Mr Hack said the workers planning to strike were essentially air traffic controllers for the port, guiding ships into the facility with the local knowledge required to ensure operations ran smoothly.
He cited the example of the Ever Given, a container which famously ran aground diagonally in the Suez Canal in 2021, in explaining the importance of workforce to the port’s operation.
“The boat operators take pilots out, that know the Fremantle waters, and they pilot the vessel in,” Mr Hack said.
“The harbour master won’t let the ships’ captains pilot the vessels in, because, you know, we saw what happened in the Suez a few years ago – that’s why we’ve got specialised pilots.”
Mr Hack said for vessels already at port, regular work would continue.
But those seeking to dock over Sunday and Monday would be unable to do so.
The delays are the latest in a long string of supply chain challenges facing WA shipping routes, which were impacted by congestion in Singapore earlier in the year while container shipping demand soared to all-time highs.
The congestion at Singapore has resulted in less vessels making it to Fremantle, with monthly arrivals estimated by Mr Hack to sit around 26 in recent months, down from an average of 30-32.
It also prompted MSC – one of the world’s largest shipping companies – to remove its Fremantle route altogether in favour of servicing east coast markets.
Mr Hack said while congestion on the route to Fremantle had improved in recent months, a 48-hour stoppage had the potential to grow as worked backed up at the facility.
“Your six days of transit from Singapore to Fremantle could blow out to 10 or 11, while it sits and waits at Gage Roads,” he said.
While EES was in the dark on the progress of negotiations between the union and the port, Mr Hack was hopeful it would be resolved for the benefit of port users across the board.
“Even the Medihotels that are getting built, some of their stuff’s delayed,” he said.
They can’t move onto the next step of building the Medihotels down at Murdoch until this step’s done, so it’s delaying projects around the place.
“Hopefully it gets resolved very shortly.”
The Medihotel project is part of a broader $450 million development in the precinct, and greenlit in June.
In a statement yesterday, Fremantle Ports chief executive Jodie Ransom said the organisation was working to minimise the impacts of the port action.
Addressing media today, Mr Cook said the government was encouraging workers to take up the enterprise agreement package before them.
“We've had good conversations with them with regards to the enterprise agreement, and we'd like them to conclude and for those workers to get the benefits of the package that's in front of them,” he said.
Mr Cook urged the port authority to continue to push for a resolution with the union.
“It is a concern that the union is taking the decision that they need to undertake industrial action, particularly in the context of the good faith negotiations which are taking place, and the work that the government negotiators and the Fremantle Port Authority are doing to make sure that we bring to the table a deal which they can be pleased with,” he said.
Mr Hack said consumers would start to feel the impacts of supply chain strain on supermarket shelves if the number of vessel arrivals at Fremantle dropped below 20 per month.
