In the absence of a handy tree on Portland's lee breakwater in far south-west Victoria, one of the town's legion of wandering koalas found a precarious and altogether symbolic spot for a rest – the mooring line of a ship that has become the town's and the Australian shipping industry's disputed emblem.

It was a reliable, if dizzying, perch.

A koala climbs on board the MV Portland. Credit:Dean Koopman

The ship, the MV Portland, wasn't about to cast off and go anywhere. It has been stranded in Portland for more than three weeks, its crew refusing to sail it on its final voyage to Singapore, where it is to be sold and scrapped and the crew rendered jobless.