Trigger warning: Descriptions and photos contained in this article may trigger an adverse emotional response in some readers. If any of this causes stress or anxiety please seek professional help.
The following is a recollection of events from my memory of the SIEV 36 incident and is in my words and no one else. My point of view may differ slightly from others but I believe this to be as accurate as I can remember.
Introduction
On the 16th of April 2009 I was an Able Seaman Boatswains Mate with the crew Ardent Four. At the time, we were part of three crews rotating through two Armidale Class Patrol Boats, HMAS Bundaberg and HMAS Childers. On this particular patrol we were embarked on HMAS Childers and tasked with patrolling the AEEZ (Australian Economic Exclusion Zone). Our primary mission at that time was to patrol the AEEZ and northern approaches to Australia searching for illegal fishermen.
Most patrols of this nature were generally pretty easy and straight forward, we would patrol, find a suspected illegal fishing vessel in Australian waters, board and search/ investigate them and if they were found guilty of illegally fishing in the AEEZ we would take them back to the closest port in Australia and hand them over to Customs (Now Border Force).
SIEV’s (Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel) at this time were extremely rare. I hadn’t done a huge amount of Patrol Boat time but in our opinion at the lower ranks it was considered highly unlikely for us to come across a SIEV attempting to enter Australia.
I enjoyed the Fisheries patrols, most of the illegal fisherman knew full well they were doing the wrong thing and that they were within the AEEZ. They were always compliant, well, in all the Boarding’s I had been part of they were.
Lead up
In March we had completed work ups (The process of preparing a ship or unit for an upcoming mission) and, for my first time, we also conducted an exercise of SOLAS (Safety of Life At Sea). The exercise was designed to test us in our ability to deal with a massive amount of casualties in the water at one time. Considering we can’t actually throw a heap of people in the water the casualties were simulated by a heap of life jackets tossed over the side of the boat where we then had to rescue them out of the water.
Scenario training is beneficial in several ways but there is only so much you can do to train for a specific, event but it cannot cover everything. It took me a while to realise even though you cannot cover everything it can give you a baseline in dealing with certain situations, anything after that is all on you and your abilities in the heat of the moment. Off the coast of Queensland in 2009 pulling helpless life jackets out of the water did nothing for me. I was soon to discover the real benefits of our training.
After work ups we sailed on patrol in the first week of April. The patrol initially had started off as nothing special; we were doing our usual fisheries patrol, sailing around in a patrol sector looking for illegal fishermen and boarding any that were in Australian waters. We had come across a few boats but nothing we could actually infringe and take back to port for processing. Most of them were drifting just outside of the EEZ.
We arrived in Darwin and stayed for a couple of days to take on extra supplies and personnel. We took on a RAAF Doctor and the rest of the TSE (Transit Security Element) members we were supposed to have. TSE was made up of members from all three services of the defence force that are trained in Boarding Operations to back up our Boarding Team.
Shortly before getting ready to sail from Darwin we were informed there was going to be a communications ban on mobile phone use, and email access to and from the boat would be restricted. It was at that point I realised there was something going on that we were potentially being prepared for.
I made a quick call to mum and said communication restrictions were about to be put in place so don’t worry if she didn’t hear from me for a few weeks. I then switched my phone off and prepared to sail.
Once at sea, we were told there was a possibility of a SIEV on its way to Australia and we may have to intercept or support a boarding on it. After that, everything went really quiet for a day or so; we guessed there was hype over nothing.
We came across some more illegal fishing boats and conducted several investigative boarding’s but once again nothing we could apprehend and escort back to Australia.
The Call
We eventually received a call to head at best possible speed to Ashmore Reef to support another Patrol Boat, HMAS Albany, they had just boarded a SIEV, designated SIEV 36 (The 36th SIEV to enter Australian waters).
In the afternoon of April 15th we met up with HMAS Albany and the intercepted SIEV. HMAS Albany had already conducted the boarding and had SIEV 36 under control for several hours. I was detailed to drive the RHIB with our Boarding Officer and some TSE members over to HMAS Albany for briefs. While I was there I conducted a food and personnel transfer from HMAS Albany to SIEV 36. It was my first time being anyway near a SIEV; I noticed it seemed to be very cramped and I was glad I was driving the RHIB and not part of the boarding team.
After the food and personnel transfers were complete we were recovered back on to HMAS Childers and headed north away from Ashmore Reef to go back on patrol. Several hours later we detected a vessel on radar and closed to investigate. It was well and truly dark by now and we were conducting surveillance via radar. Our boarding team conducted an investigative boarding but released them on their way.
I was due to be on watch on the bridge in a few hours and went to get some sleep while the boarding was still happening. I was woken at 0330 to go on watch and was told the boarding was finished and we were underway again. When I got up people were still packing their boarding equipment away and getting ready for the next time they would have to use it.
We were making our way back towards Ashmore Reef to rendezvous with HMAS Albany and SIEV 36 at 0600 to conduct a handover. The majority of us had very little sleep and I think I barely managed two hours before I was back on the helm. Just before 0600 the sun came up and the day was brilliant, barely a cloud in the sky and the water was almost like glass. We detected HMAS Albany and SIEV 36 on the radar and made our way towards them.
Our ABSE (Able Seaman Survival Equipment sailor) had stayed up servicing the boarding team equipment and survival equipment; and then had to drive the RHIB to transfer our boarding team onto SIEV 36 to conduct a handover from the boarding team off HMAS Albany. The transfer had gone well and the RHIB returned back to us. The ABSE then tried to get some sleep. We were stopped in the water just off SIEV 36 while the transfer was happening and I was sitting in the helm chair watching and listening to the radio traffic from the boarding team and HMAS Albany. Once everything was handed over HMAS Albany headed off. The plan was for us to have control of SIEV 36 until a bigger warship arrived to transfer the PII’s (Potential Illegal Immigrants) to them so they could be taken for processing.
Sailing The Unknown 
2 thoughts on “SIEV 36- Part 1”