The Tampa affair 20 years on The boat that rocked Australias asylum seeker policy
In an interview about the incident, Captain Rinnan said: "When we arrived, several of the refugees were obviously in a bad state and 10 to 12 of them were unconscious, several had dysentery and a pregnant woman was suffering abdominal pains".
After Captain Rinnan and his crew had rescued all on board, he received a call from Jakarta advising him to take them to the ferry port of Merak, Indonesia. But five of the asylum seekers visited the captain's bridge, demanding they were taken to Australia, specifically Christmas Island.
An international stoushFearing the asylum seekers might jump overboard or riot, Captain Rinnan agreed to alter course and head for Christmas Island. But the Australian government refused permission for the ship to enter Australia's territorial waters and threatened to prosecute Captain Arne Rinnan as a people smuggler if it did so.
As the ship prepared to cross into Australian territory, Captain Rinnan pleaded for permission to dock at Christmas Island, saying several of the asylum seekers were unconscious, and others were suffering from dysentery.
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