Insiders claim Australian Border Force’s Cape-class boats are plagued with dangerous issues. An investigation has revealed one was out of action when a people-smuggling vessel landed in Western Australia.
As dozens of thirsty and exhausted asylum seekers wandered the ochre-red dirt tracks criss-crossing Dampier Peninsula’s remote bushland in February, the crew of the $50 million patrol boat meant to stop them from reaching Australia’s mainland were dealing with the fallout of their own crisis.
Along with major fire risks, communications and vital oil leak alarm systems regularly fail to work properly.Border Force crews have been forced to go to Bunnings to buy fans to cool equipment at sea. Border Force staff fed up with mould, noxious gas leaks and communications failures, which leave them unable to contact their family during weeks-long operations, are quitting or considering legal action.
The beneficiaries of these problems are twofold: private contractors that are paid millions of dollars to fix broken boats, and those intent on testing Australia’s border security. Among the latter group are people-smugglers and illegal fishermen like Ali Sarwano . The asylum seekers – from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India – had been at sea for four days when through the dark, they caught the shades of the wild north-Kimberley coast.“Some were jumping up and down,” Ali says. In jubilation and anxiety, they leapt into the shallow, warm water before the boat even made it to shore.
Interviews with Indonesian fishermen and smugglers, along with Border Force insiders and the head of Indonesia’s maritime security agency, all suggest that the success of fishing raids in Australian waters meant it was only a matter of time until they turned to a more valuable commodity: people. For four days, after they checked in on February 7, these three peculiar guests shared the same room, and only left it to eat at the in-house restaurant, according to resort staff.
Barker reckons that if he was born in an impoverished Indonesian fishing village, he, too, would venture to Australian waters searching for fish. “We’re seeing a lot more motorised vessels, bigger boats, more boats, coming deeper into our fishery. They’re not so scared of the line any more. They come right down and just go for it really,” he says.There are multiple accounts of Indonesian fishermen setting up hidden camps on Australia’s mainland, fishing for days before rendezvousing with a so-called mothership waiting on the Indonesian side of the maritime border.
“It’s not battleships. But if we steam at them, they’ll pick up and go back over the line and sort of ‘message received’.”In the past six months, three fishing boats bearing “irregular migrants” have reached Australian territory, including the boat bearing Ali, and three more vessels have come close to reaching land. Australian agencies are worried.
Internet and encrypted communications systems on the boats often fail, forcing crew members to chip in to buy their own platforms. Three sources described crew members making emergency runs to a Bunnings hardware store, buying fans to keep equipment – including switchboards in the mid-plant room – and living quarters from overheating.
In a statement, Border Force conceded that “patrol days for ABF vessels has reduced due to the requirement for Cape-class vessels to undergo mandatory depot-level maintenance” and that “mitigation measures” included relying on the navy “and/or leased vessels”. A faulty hose connected to the operation of the small cranes that lower the Cape York’s tenders into the water had earlier exploded, coating the engine room in highly flammable oil that also posed a major health risk.
In response to questions from this masthead, Border Force confirmed the Cape York’s problems, stating that “the ABF Cape York had developed communication difficulties and at the time of the fire was commencing its return to Darwin for repairs to the communication equipment”. In a statement, Border Force said these changes were made and, while conceding problems in its fleet, insisted they were continuously rectified and Operation Sovereign Borders was as robust as ever.
“It took me three hours to fix it. That was when the Australians caught us. If we didn’t have machine problems, we would’ve gotten away.”
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