Ratguards.

[j.sabourn]

I used to think that ratguards were there to stop rats coming on board a vessel. In matter of fact it is a port health rule to stop rats from going off the ship. The present enquires about passengers leaving vessels contaminated with the corona virus and spreading the epidemic so easily should maybe have followed the rules of having peopleguards as one form of defence. To have thousands of people having so easy an ingress to a country doesn’t bear thinking about, and the present inquiry’s looking for someone to blame , and to any sane minded person there can only be one, and that’s is themselves. Radio pratique for starters has to be done away with and visual and primary tests in the future will have to be done regardless of the discomfort and loss of cash by various people, something like the old charter rate clause of time not starting as regards cargo until 24 hours after arrival. I see no misconduct on the part of ships crews apart from maybe ships doctors who were unable to spot the virus. The present show of inquiries to me is just to show the general public they are doing something and want somebodys head on a pike, they should take a good look in the mirror. Start by forgetting any discomfort it may cause the thousands of passengers passing through these terminals and impose more inquiries of where these people come from. JS
The discontinuation of Radio Pratique would be a good starter to show that authorities were keen to combat any future occurrences, and not all trying to clear themselves at others expense. JS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John
This virus was a new thing and the ships doctor's were unaware of the procedures, something the inquiry showed up. He put the whole blame on N.S.W. Health, they knew what was what; but wanted to be rid of the problem. They even ignored the Airlines appeal to stop the people from the Ruby Princess from flying with them, putting all the crews at risk.
Des

[happy daze john in oz]

It is another one of those 'not my problem; situations.

The ships docs did send info ashore saying there were some sick people, on board and in such circumstances there is usually an ambulance or wheel chair assistance on stand by.
No such evidence this time which makes me think the NSW health department just wanted it all out of their way.

[Colin Wood]

I am glad the ship has been cleared, but then I am biased.
When I was piloting, the port medical officer, or his nominee, a doctor, boarded all ships on arrival from overseas for an inspection. This comprised of inspecting forearms for smallpox signs, and checking vaccination books against a crew list to see all were up todate. All this during the hours of daylight only. I often hastened the clearance by assisting the medical officer either by checking forearms or vaccination books.
One memorable occasion was in Port Hedland, where we had just had a new doctor appointed who happened to be Chinese origin. His first boarding was on a Chinese crewed ship. The vaccination books were all written in Chinese and when he checked them against the crew list, none of the names fitted. Turned out they had changed crew in Singapore on way to Port Hedland, and these were the old crews books. He put the ship in quarantine and was going ashore to get smallpox and cholera vaccines from the hospital. He returned to the masters cabin very distressed, as the wharfinger in charge of the berthing would not let him ashore as we were still flying the Q flag. I had to go and get him cleared to get the vaccines and return to ship to vaccinate the whole crew. A big laugh as the wharfingers daughter was the senior operating theatre nurse at the hospital and the doctor was now the chief medical officer and surgeon at the hospital.

[Colin Wood]

Ratguards were a continuing problem especially in large tidal range ports. In Port Hedland we had one very officious quarantine officer who upset a clot of people with his attitude. He went on board one of the State Shipping vessels just after lunch one day, straight to the captains cabin where the master was having a kip on his settee after a good lunch time session, and in loud voice said "Capen, your ratguards are off". Mad Mac opened one eye and said"I can see that" and went back to sleep.