May-Jun 2008

Terror

Brian Gallager had heard that there was to be a military exercise on board his ship, the Australian Enterprise on January 15.

The crew weren't happy about the Special Air Services Regiment (SAS) coming on board, but the captain assured them the exercise would be confined to the recreational room, gym, bridge and deck. Crew quarters and the engine room were out of bounds.

It was going midnight. Brian had been on watch from 12-4 that morning and again from 4-8 that night. He'd dozed off while reading a book in his cabin during his rest break. About 9pm Brian got out of bed and caught a cab to the auto teller to get some cash out, returning to the recreational room a bit after 10pm to chat with his shipmates. About 11.40 he left the rec room alone. Brian was heading for the change room to get ready for work when a thundering down the corridor startled him:

"Five or six men, their heads covered, ran up behind me from the starboard side of the ship yelling and screaming at me: 'Get down, get down,'" he said. "They all wore camouflage, balaclavas and infra red night goggles. They were waving automatic weapons with laser beams fixed at the end to site their targets in the dark."

It was an ugly sight: "One of them pointed his weapon at me and kept yelling at me to get down. I put my hands up and told him to hold on: 'Steady up mate, I'm just going for a piss.'"

Brian then turned and took a couple of steps forward. But as soon as he had his back to them one soldier grabbed him around the throat and threw him to the ground.

"He pointed his gun at my head. I was scared, very scared. I didn't know what was going on or who was behind the mask."
A shipmate came out of the rec room, saw what was happening and called out to the soldiers that Brian was a crew member. With that they apologised, but not to Brian, simply releasing him and running off down the corridor.

The whole scenario only took minutes, minutes that have been replaying in Brian's head ever since. Brian has been waking in terror at night, jumping our of his bed with visions of guns pointing at his head, fighting for breath, a tightness constricting his neck.;

"I've been queasy and off my food ever since. On the night I pulled myself together and got straight into my overalls. We spoke to the officers and went straight out to tell the captain to put a stop to it. We had a guarantee these fellows would not interfere with ship operations."

The next morning the Enterprise did not sail until the crew got MUA branch official Dean Summers from the union rooms down to call for a full inquiry.

"I gave police a statement, but I couldn't identify anyone," said Brian. "They all had their heads covered."

Brian got no counselling or medical help before the ship sailed for Singapore. "My neck was sore as hell from the choker hold, I wasn't sleeping and I was off my food."

This he entered in the log book. When the ship arrived in port, Brian went straight to a doctor, got an X-ray of his neck, anti-inflammatory pills to relieve the swelling and stiffness and some sedatives to help him sleep.

The Enterprise then did a loop to Malaysia, back to Singapore and finally home to Brisbane, arriving on February 2. Brian was still crook. "I was still so depressed I decided I'd better see a doctor. He paid me off with post trauma stress. Brian Gallager has been a seafarer 19 years and never experienced anything like it: "The only thing that came close was the pirate attack off Borneo six or seven years back. They came alongside the TNT Capricornia in a small boat and climbed on board under cover of dark with a grappling hook and rope. They woke the captain from his sleep, robbed him at knife point and tied him up. But we knew nothing until we heard him calling out to get someone to cut him free. "Unlike the pirate incident the Maritime Union is concerned that the storming of the Australian Enterprise may not be an isolated incident.
Crew have collected the spent bullets fired from the Heckler & Kosh MP5 9mm Sub Machine Gun and passed them on to Brisbane Branch Secretary Mick Carr, before the ship headed on its way to Melbourne. The led had been replaced with paint balls to prevent death or serious injury.
Is it mere coincidence the ship chosen for a raid has the Melbourne docks, scene of the current dispute, as a regular pick up? Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith has already floated the idea of making an ANL vessel available for the National Farmers' Federation training operation at Webb Dock. Obviously MUA crew on board the vessel would be reluctant to get involved in any union busting scheme... that is unless they had a gun held at their head.

"It's not as if we have no ammunition to back up our suspicions," said National Secretary John Coombs. "I know it sounds like something out of a Hollywood thriller, but who would have believed Dubai? That was an SAS job."

At any rate the Department of Defence version of events is equally incredible. Practising for a terrorist attack during the Sydney Olympics? In Fremantle? On a ship? The mind boggles.

War on the Waterfront articles

This page: http://mua.org.au/war/terror.html
Last Modified: Tuesday, 15-Nov-2005 19:31:57 EST

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