The tiny bug causing big dramas for the Australian car industry

[Ntgthegamer]

Shipments of new cars are being turned around and denied entry into our ports because stink bug contaminations are on the rise. Strict measures by the Department of Agriculture to stop stink bugs from destroying Australian plants and crops are putting the brakes on new car sales because cargo ships are being turned around or fumigated offshore. Thousands of new motor vehicles across most brands shipped from the northern hemisphere have been affected, from expensive Mercedes-Benz sports cars to cheap Chinese utes. Detections of brown marmorated stink bugs (BMSBs) tripled in the 2018-2019 season compared to the same period the year before, according to figures from the Department of Agriculture. Once the stink bugs are detected in a shipment of motor vehicles, the entire cargo needs to be treated offshore or turned around. “The quarantine authorities say ‘no, you can’t dock’, so then they turn the ships around for example to Singapore and get them decontaminated,” says Horst von Sanden, the managing director of Mercedes-Benz Australia. “Of course that is a massive problem timing-wise for us and cost-wise for the shipping companies,” he said, estimating close to one-in-five new Mercedes cars have been delayed by up to three months due to ships contaminated with stink bugs. “Initially when we rang customers and said ‘we are sorry to tell you, but your car will be severely delayed because the ship was contaminated with stink bugs’, they thought we were joking,” said Mr von Sanden. “The dealers rang us and said ‘you have to ring the customer, they don’t believe us’.” The Department of Agriculture has confirmed three vessels and their cargo “were directed to leave Australian territory as a result of unacceptable (stink bug) risks during the 2018-19 season”. All three vessels were carrying new vehicles that were due to offload at multiple Australian ports. Peak season for stink bugs is the lead-up to the northern hemisphere winter, when they hibernate. But they come out of hibernation as the ships – and the cars they are hiding in – head south through warmer tropical climates. Over the past few years stink bugs have caused lengthy delays of cars due to arrive in Australia between November and March. “As with a number of brands coming out of the northern hemisphere, a significant number of our vehicles were affected by delays due to contaminated ships,” said Dinesh Chinnappa, the managing director of Chinese vehicle manufacturer LDV. “It has taken us a few months to recover.”