Surf Champs back MUA/ITF Safe Ships Clean Waters campaign

By Maritime Union of Australia

A ship being sucked under a raging, turbulent, swirling sea of

The story had gone national, promoted as a lead item alongside the vote count in the Aston by-election and the Olympic Games being awarded to Beijing:

"The Federal Government is being accused of allowing deadly ships of shame to sail our seas despite the threat of an environmental disaster," the Channel 10 news report led. "The Maritime Union of Australia says the Government is still issuing permits for rust bucket freighters and oil tankers to enter Australian waters."

Dramatic footage of the bow of the Greek flagged freighter snapping in heavy seas off the WA coast and fuel oil contaminating beaches set the scene for the surfer emerging from the water covered in 'oil', "now one of Australia's most endangered species".

The media coverage was all generated by a surfing competition at Perth's famous Cottesloe, sponsored by the International Transport Workers' Federation, the Maritime Union of Australia and Greenpeace on the 10th anniversary of the Kirki disaster. Key union organiser backstage was WA Deputy Branch Secretary Wally Pritchard who passionately worked with surfing fraternity, ITF Australia, MUA media and Greenpeace for weeks leading up to the event.

Australian beaches are Australian icons and the emotion the scene aroused among surfers and the general public was overwhelming.

"So many people had tears in their eyes," said surfing contest organiser Peter Dunn. "I'm overwhelmed by the support we've got. We've had people phoning in from all walks of life saying we don't usually agree with the union, but we agree with them on this. The public actually saw the MUA and the ITF as part of the community. They are here, they are human beings and they are really bringing people together for a reason. The environment. They are doing the right thing."

Images of surfers riding the waves with the eerie, foreboding image of giant bulk carriers slithering ominously on the horizon made a dramatic backdrop to an interview with Dean Summers: "Flag of convenience ships, ships of shame, rust buckets can go and up down our coast," he said.

And there they were for everyone to see.

Flags of convenience, cabotage, single voyage permits - terminology normally impossible to effect basic comprehension, much less a gut reaction from people, was graphically translated into images. As the reporter and Summers spoke, viewers saw, not heard, the meaning. And it hit home.

"The union claims international shipping companies are using the internet to get $200 single voyage permits from the Australian government," said the reporter as the giant ships appeared lurking behind the surfers with menace.

"They just continue to grant these SVPs and license foreign vessels with no inspections," Dean Summers told the nation. "And, as I say, it's just a matter of time before the Kirki happens again."

In their homes a million Australians sat up in their chairs taking in the horror before their eyes. They witnessed a fierce storm, waves lashing steel, a dying ship gurgling oil, its torn guts ripped open, a sea of oil staining our beaches, a young surfer trudging up the beach grimacing as the thick, black mess coated the flesh of his face and body. What they witnessed was not only a violation of their beach, but their way of life, their national identity.

State television coverage of the day alone got the message home to around 700,000 people, according to audience data supplied by ACNeilsen and Oztam. All four channels broadcast the event, so there was little likelihood of any family missing the message.

Radio reports ran all day Friday and Saturday, with songs of the Kirki still echoing over the airwaves the following weekend, reaching out to another 30,000 to 40,000 people.

Then there was the press coverage leading up to the event. The West Australian (circulation 237, 506) featured an inspired piece that managed to encompass the upcoming surf event, the environment, the ICONS report and the SVP controversy:

"Oil. Bubbling gold. One of the mainstays of the global economy. And one of the world's worst polluters," wrote reporter Bevan Eakins, citing the Exxon Valdez oil spill alongside the Kirki's 82,000 tonnes of light crude which threatened to wipe out both the crayfish industry and the environment.

Eakins then put the Maritime Union at the forefront of the campaign to protect our coast as part of the worldwide ITF initiative.

Describing long board surf riders as baby boomers, now part of the well-off middle class concerned with the legacy they may leave behind, Eakins drew on the commonality between two previously disparate groups - surfers and unionists.

"It's even written in the Cottesloe club's constitution that members will 'attempt to maintain a passion for the preservation of the maritime environment and its shores,'" said Eakins.

His report also quoted MUA Deputy Branch Secretary Wally Pritchard raising concerns about slavery and sexual and physical abuse of today's seafarers.

A follow up story the day before the big event featured surfing legend, former longboard world champion and reigning national title holder Wayne Deane checking out the surf at Cottesloe.

"Perhaps with an eye to the future for his sons Jimi, 10 and Noa, 6, Deane is pleased to see the fourth Whalebone Classic sponsored by the Maritime Union of Australia's campaign for "safer ships, cleaner seas," read the Eakins report which featured prominently in the sports section of the Saturday edition.

The Sunday Times (circulation 348,850) followed through the following day with another contribution to the MUA shipping campaign: "Australian longboard champion Wayne Deane urged that people needed to voice their opinions to get the Government to act to prevent oil spills," it said.

"One of the reasons I'm here is because I'm an environmentalist," Deane told MWJ. "It's shocking the way they let some of these foreign ships run down. You know they are going to go at any time. It's almost as if you have to shock people into realising what's happening."

His sentiments were echoed by other high profile surfers.

State longboard champion Chris Fullston was a professional fisherman at the time the Kirki broke up. "It threatened my livelihood," he said. "I've surfed overseas in oceans polluted by crude oil spills. You get black goo stuck all over your board like tar. The union campaign is a really good thing."

"As surfers we live in the ocean so it is a good idea to keep it clean," said Kirki Cup champion on the day, Queenslander Erin Nicholls. "As a professional surfer I have travelled to the US where we have to remove dead fish from the shore every morning. This is the ocean we surf in."

And it was this message that Mark Lane general manager of Surfing Australia, WA and Peter Dunn contest director pushed over the PA during the day.

"We both have ownership of the sea," said Lane.

"Surfers know the shoreline and the ocean as far as the eye can see, seafarers have the knowledge about what happens beyond. We all have a love for the ocean and many of us rely on it for our livelihood and enjoyment. It makes sense that we join together to promote the importance of a clean ocean."

The partnership of unionists and environmentalists, seafarers and surfers has proved so successful that Surfing Australia have now invited the MUA/ITF to sponsor the national longboard titles. This would see the MUA/ITF logo worn by the Australian champion internationally.

"Surfers and seafarers. We both have true respect for the environment," said Mark Lane. "One of the most successful elements of the union/surfing alliance is based on commonalties."