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The car-carrying ship Glovis Caravel arrived off Brisbane in late October and has capacity for 6,500 vehicles. Many of those it was carrying were reportedly Tesla Model Ys, though Kia has also confirmed about 1,000 of its vehicles were aboard. The ship has since returned to Shanghai, where the vehicles have been unloaded. The Electric Vehicle Council chief executive, Behyad Jafari, said the delayed shipment impacted Australia’s entire market.
“New Zealand had trouble with these pests all last year and it was only a matter of time before Australia did too,” he said.
“Ships have been turned around for quarantine reasons before but it’s a shame that it happened to be when there was a stack of EVs on board that people had been waiting for.” The organisation estimates invasive alien species in Australia cost about $25bn each year in agricultural losses and pest management.
The bug detected in the cargo ship is common to Asia and could pose a risk to fruit crops if imported into Australia, including pears, peaches, apples and kiwifruit. University of South Australia associate professor Patrick O’Connor said the detection will ultimately benefit the entire community. “For something like turning around a ship or delaying access to EVs, there’s a private cost,” he said. “But otherwise [the price] could be billions of dollars borne by many individuals over generations and have significant consequences that you can’t foresee.”
