The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) is investigating how a Chinese junior officer died on board a cargo ship, just before it arrived in the Port of Newcastle.

The Marshall Islands ‘flag of convenience’ bulk carrier Yangtze Oasis arrived on Friday, October 30 in Newcastle, Australia.

The union’s national co-ordinator Dean Summers said the young man’s death is being investigated by the New South Wales Coroner.

“One of the problems about a flag of convenience vessel is that it’s able to hide behind a very heavy shroud of secrecy,” he said. “So we can’t find and we can’t engage the owners, we can’t engage the operators. All our information is being blocked and it’s just so frustrating. We seek to find out exactly what happened on board this vessel.”

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