Australia 'unable to protect its domain' in the Southern Ocean

Updated

Australia is currently unable to protect its sovereignty in Antarctic waters, an ocean security research fellow says.

Dr Sam Bateman, a retired Navy Commodore and Fellow at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security, said the large Australian waters in the Southern Ocean were increasingly being targeted by illegal fishing.

He said Australia was also unable to respond to search and rescue obligations, which were becoming more frequent due to increased fishing and cruise ship activity.

"Both these requirements, I see, are going to increase quite significantly in the years ahead," he said.

"We've had a number of incidents already this year where Australia actually couldn't do anything, despite the fact we had the primary obligation to respond."

Earlier this month, when the disabled Tasmanian fishing ship the Antarctic Chieftan became trapped in ice north-east of Antarctica's McMurdo Sound, it was the US Coast Guard vessel that went to its rescue.

Dr Bateman said a New Zealand naval patrol vessel responded to three foreign boats fishing illegally in Australia's Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ) in January.

It was New Zealand responding simply because we didn't have a vessel that can undertake that task Dr Sam Bateman

Australia detected the boats by aerial patrol.

Dr Bateman said Australia needed a dedicated ice-strengthened offshore patrol vessel for the Southern Ocean to allow a better Australian response.

"This is not a unique requirement for Australia," he said.

"There are many, many examples of this type of vessel around the world.

"Even the New Zealand Navy has two of these vessels, and one was engaged in the illegal fishing apprehension case back in January.

"And that of course was in Australian waters. It wasn't Australia responding, it was New Zealand responding, simply because we didn't have a vessel that can undertake that task."

Hobart the 'logical forward base' for patrol vessel

Dr Bateman said Hobart would be a logical place for such a vessel to be based.

"If it was a naval vessel, its home port would probably be in one of the major dockyards, say in Sydney," he said.

"But Hobart would certainly be a logical forward-operating base for such a vessel.

"When it was undertaking regular operations in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, it wouldn't be going back to Sydney all the time, it could operate out of Hobart."

The Federal Government has allocated funding for a new icebreaker to replace the ageing Aurora Australis.

The tender process is due to close next week.

Dr Bateman said government agencies would benefit from a more collaborative approach, saying a patrol vessel specifically for the Southern Ocean could also assist scientific research.

"No single agency regards it as being a top requirement, even though from my point of view it's a very important national requirement."

More patrols planned, says Customs

Australian Customs and Border Protection said it was committed to protecting Australia's sovereign territories and interests in the Southern Ocean.

It planned to conduct two 40-day patrols in the Southern Ocean this financial year, subject to operational priorities.

In a statement, it said patrols were conducted across Australia's maritime zones based on assessments of all maritime security threats and that Australia continued to work with international partners to sustain operations in the Southern Ocean.

Australia's fleet includes an ice-strengthened patrol vessel, the ACV Ocean Shield.

Topics: defence-and-national-security, tas

First posted