SS Petriana

SS Petriana was an iron screw steamer built in 1879 that was converted into an oil tanker. On 28 November 1903, while transporting 1,300 tonnes of petroleum from Borneo to Australia, it struck a reef near Point Nepean, Victoria, outside of Port Phillip Bay. The vessel was subsequently abandoned, but not before its cargo was released as part of efforts to save the ship, causing Australia's first major oil spill. Under the White Australia policy, the Chinese and Malay sailors crewing the Petriana were refused entry to Australia and forced to stay on a crowded tugboat for several days. Their treatment led to a political controversy in the lead-up to the 1903 federal election.

Early career

Petriana was built in 1879 by A. Leslie and Company at its yard in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It had a length of 260.5 ft and a gross tonnage of 1,821 imperial tons.[2] It was built as a cargo ship for the London firm of Bell & Symonds, passing through a series of owners before being acquired by petroleum industry pioneer Alfred Suart in 1886. It was converted to a tanker in 1891, and in 1898 was purchased by the Shell Transport & Trading Company, which in 1903 transferred it to the Asiatic Petroleum Company

Aftermath

Investigation

A Court of Marine Inquiry assigned the blame for the wreck to Press, and on 9 December he was convicted of misconduct. His pilot's licence was suspended for twelve months and he was ordered to pay the costs of the investigation.[6]

Treatment of the crew

On the evening of the wreck, the James Paterson took those rescued from the Petriana to Queenscliff. The ship's captain William Kerr and his wife were passed through quarantine and then given accommodation in the town. However, the other officers and crew were required to remain on the tug, initially with the explanation that they would be needed for recovery attempts. Once the ship had been formally abandoned, immigration officials applied the Immigration Restriction Act 1901, refusing permission for the Asian crew members to land and forcing the tug to anchor off Williamstown. The British officers were also refused permission to land at first, however officials relented after five hours and the government later denied there had been a delay. On the evening of 30 November, the 27 Asian crew members were transferred to the Kasuga Maru, a Japanese mail steamer bound for Hong Kong, from which they were to be returned to their original port of Singapore as required by the Merchant Shipping Act 1854.

Captain Kerr released a press statement highly critical of the treatment of his crew, in which he said:[3][7]

"I have sailed in many seas the world over, but have never before seen or heard of a country where the shipwrecked mariner was not allowed to set his foot on dry land. [...] If this treatment of my crew is a fair specimen of your humanity it is about equal to the worst barbarity of other nations, and if it is forced on you by your laws, I regret to say they are a disgrace to the British Empire."

Political consequences

There was an immediate public reaction to the government's handling of the wreck, which occurred in the middle of the 1903 federal election campaign. The Argus published numerous letters accusing the government of cruelty and damaging Australia's international reputation. The federal government's handling of the case was contrasted with that of the Victorian colonial government, which in 1891 had accommodated the Afro-Canadian crew members of the shipwrecked Joseph H. Scammell. The Age was initially equivocal but supported the government once criticism became sustained. In Sydney, The Sydney Morning Herald and Daily Telegraph adopted the stance of the Argus, whereas The Bulletin referred to the crew members using racial slurs and labelled them "very undesirable immigrants". It accused the other newspapers of slandering the government by portraying them as heartless.

Prime Minister Alfred Deakin sought to use the incident to promote his zero-tolerance approach to the White Australia policy. When the press began to question the government's actions, he claimed that the actual responsibility for the situation lay with the ship's owners. Deakin's departmental secretary Atlee Hunt had in fact informed the shipping agency that the crew could be landed on Coode Island, but that they would be liable for a £100 fine for each crew member who escaped. They were unwilling to take the risk and therefore arranged for the crew to be transshipped rather than landed. Deakin publicly defended the actions of both Hunt and the immigration officials who had originally refused the sailors entry, stating the latter had acted in the spirit of "utmost humanity".

namesake	Petriana
owner	*Asiatic Petroleum Company
registry	London, England
route	Borneo to Australia
builder	A. Leslie and Company
launched	30 October 1879‡R1R‡
completed	1879
fate	Wrecked 28 November 1903

Early career

Wreck

Recovery attempts

Oil spill

Aftermath

Investigation

Treatment of the crew

Political consequences

See also

Sources

References