Exclusive: Lifeboats have been used to send asylum seekers back to source countries but a ‘multimillion dollar’ deal has been signed for new boats built in Vietnam

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Australia is to replace the controversial orange lifeboats currently used to send asylum seekers back to their source countries, signing a “multi-million dollar deal” to have 10 custom-made “alternative transportation vessels”, resembling Asian fishing boats, built in Vietnam.

Australia initially purchased five of the 12-metre wooden-hulled vessels, then ordered another five. The first arrived in Australia in October.



The government has refused to answer questions on how much the new boats cost, or under which country’s flag they will be registered, if at all. A spokeswoman for the immigration minister said only: “customs and border protection uses a variety of vessels to prepare for and perform its maritime tasks”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The orange lifeboat that returned 26 asylum seekers to Indonesia. Photograph: El Darmarwan/AAP

At least three of the ships have been delivered to Darwin and have been sitting in dry dock, while two are reportedly in a south-east Asian country, ready for deployment from there.



The boats were transported to Australia with instructions that they be kept out of public view, according to a source with knowledge of the project.

The project is being overseen by Hong Kong firm Dragon Industries Asia, and the boats were built in Vietnam. On its website, Dragon Industries says it is a “multi-million dollar project”. Dragon Industries managing director Tim Clements declined to comment on the project, referring Guardian Australia to customs and border protection, citing contractual restrictions.

A government source confirmed the shipbuilders were “bound by confidentiality agreements”.



Dragon’s website says it was charged with overseeing construction of five “alternative transportation vessels” from Vietnamese-based shipbuilders.



“Dragon Industries Asia was tasked by a government agency to manage procurement of five vessels from preliminary design and approval through to construction, seaworthiness trials, international delivery logistics and customs clearance.



“This multi-million dollar project was delivered to exceptionally tight deadlines, with final delivery of all vessels within 18 weeks of project inauguration. Upon completion of the vessels Dragon was given a repeat order making the overall project a 10-vessel contract to be delivered by the end of the last quarter in 2014.”



Since being contacted by Guardian Australia, Dragon Industries has removed some details of the project from its website. The original version can be seen here.



Guardian Australia has located at least three of the boats currently in dry dock in Darwin. The vessels resemble fishing boats common through south-east and south Asia, particularly those found in Sri Lanka and Indonesia.



The boats have been undergoing quarantine procedures. They are painted white, one with red, one with blue, another with green, trim. At least two have been named Farah and Harum. It is understood the boats have been fitted out with fuel, food and water, navigation equipment, life jackets and life buoys for return journeys.

Previously, Australia has put asylum seekers it tows back into orange lifeboats, bought from a Chinese company at a cost of $46,000 each. Australia bought 12 of the lifeboats, which are used only once, and abandoned once they reach Indonesia.

It is unknown how many of the orange lifeboats have been sent back to Indonesia, but a source with knowledge of the new boat project says several of the lifeboats remain in Australia’s possession, both on the mainland and offshore.



Irregular migration by sea remains at near-record levels across south-east Asia. An estimated 64,000 asylum seekers travelled by boat across the region last year, most through the Bay of Bengal from Bangladesh and Burma, heading south towards Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.

Boats are still attempting to come to Australia from south Asia too.



In January this year, Sri Lankan authorities arrested a man for allegedly organising 72 asylum seekers to travel by boat from Negombo on the west coast of the island.



But only one boat – in July last year – has reached Australian waters since the Abbott government’s Operation Sovereign Borders began in December 2013.



Head of Operation Sovereign Borders Lieutenant General Angus Campbell confirmed in January this year that 15 boats carrying 429 asylum seekers have been forcibly returned to Indonesia and Sri Lanka since the commencement of the operation.



Not all have been returned by lifeboat. Sometimes asylum seekers are handed over to the navies of other countries, such as Sri Lanka, in other instances asylum seekers’ own boats are towed back, or repaired by Australia and sent back.



The high court ruled on-water transfer operations were legal in a judgement delivered in January, but the United Nations opposes Australia’s actions, saying asylum seekers intercepted at sea should not be returned against their will to source and transit countries without proper on-land processing.



“UNHCR’s position is that they [asylum seekers intercepted at sea] must be swiftly and individually screened, in a process which they understand and in which they are able to explain their needs. Such screening is best carried out on land, given safety concerns and other limitations of doing so at sea.”



Beyond the cost in boats and money to Australia, tow-backs have been controversial in Indonesia, and caused significant damage in the relationship. Australia violated Indonesian sovereignty six times in two months when navy ships patrolling for asylum seeker boats made incursions into the archipelago nation’s territorial waters.

“Each incursion was inadvertent and occurred as a result of miscalculation of Indonesian maritime boundaries by Australian crews,” a government review found.



A statement from the Indonesian government said it: “deplores and rejects the violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity by the Australian vessels”.



“The government of Indonesia underlines that any of such violation of whatever basis constitutes a serious matter in bilateral relations of the two countries. Indonesia therefore demands that such violation will not recur in the future.”

