Steel Shipping Containers are crucial for international trade of commodities and goods. Unfortunately, the units can be a means of illegal transportation of goods. An investigation by the Sun-Herald revealed illegal activity involving the shipping industry in Australia.
Transporting Illegal Items
Crime syndicates are able to use some units to transport illegal money and goods across seas to other countries. The means of transportation has low risk of discover and attention. E-waste is also transported out of countries via global shipping. The areas of the world with the highest rate of e-waste are India, Pakistan, Africa and some areas in Asia.
Another finding was that many employees in many of Australia’s ports did not undergo any sort of background check when hired. Some undocumented employees have been found “stuffing and unstuffing” the portable storage containers. This is an obvious security breach of the ports. The workforce is non-unionized and unregulated. Dean Summers of the Maritime Union of Australia stated that the government is now taking steps to fix the unregulated work force.
Inspections are Decreasing
The Sun-Herald also found that the actual portion of cargo containers inspected by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service has been decreasing in the past years and is now as low as 1% of all units to pass through the port. Only 2599 units out of 2 million were inspected by border officials in the 2010-2011 year. This number is down from 4165 units in the previous year.
One spokesperson for the Australian Ports pointed out that “It is not necessary or appropriate to examine every consignment‚ to do so would have a significant and unwarranted impact on Australia’s legitimate export trade.”
Eyeing Improvements
There have been improvements in the past several years however. Security checks and identification cards are now necessary for employees of the docks and ports. The Australian government is now responding the parliamentary committee recommendations involving maritime security.