Carnival crew members were caught on camera denying entry to Australian government and union officials, and the tense confrontation is going viral.
On March 9, 2026, officials from SafeWork NSW and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) attempted to board Carnival Adventure in Sydney, Australia, which is where the 2,636-guest ship is currently homeporting.
For context, the MUA is a division of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), which represents more than 100,000 members across Australia.
According to local outlet Sky News, the organization was attempting to carry out an investigation after receiving multiple reports of “seafarer health and safety issues.”
The reports claim that crew members are subjected to overcrowded living conditions below deck with no safe drinking water and earn extremely low wages, allegedly making as little as $2.50 USD per hour.
However, Carnival did not let the representatives onboard, with members of the security team and several senior crew members stopping them in their tracks.
“That’s my badge, I’m a government official,” a SafeWork employee tried to explain in the video, which has been obtained by Cruise Hive.
“So, you’re refusing the government official’s access,” the man behind the camera then said.
“Do you guys understand? You’ve been formally advised that you won’t be attending the ship today so I respectfully ask you to leave…you won’t be entering the ship today,” a senior officer replied.
Is Carnival Hiding Something?
There are always two sides to every story, and on the MUA’s side, suspicion against Carnival is growing.
MUA and SafeWork NSW allege that they have now been wrongfully refused entry to Carnival ships on three separate occasions.
“I don’t know what this company has got to hide but they set their entire squad of thugs down to refuse the state government inspectors from getting on board,” Union Member Shane Reside said in the video.
The officials say that they have the proper permits to conduct an inspection and will continue to fight for access.
“We have a right to come on board to speak to our members that work on these vessels,” an MUA official affirmed.
Notably, updated legislation in New South Wales now allows worker safety organizations, including the MUA, to launch proceedings in the court against companies that refuse entry to authorized inspectors.
If Carnival is found to be in the wrong, they could be on the hook for a maximum of $74,849 per incident.
Carnival Pushes Back Against Allegations
Carnival Cruise Line, meanwhile, stated to local outlets that they wouldn’t be “threatened” by the union and that only the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) had permission to board their ships.
“We won’t be threatened by the CFMEU. They have no authority to board our ship, bully our crew or violate security protocols that create risks for our guests,” a Carnival spokesperson said.
“The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is the proper regulator for protecting seafarers’ working and living conditions, and they are always welcome onboard,” the cruise line continued.
Carnival also alleges that the brand was told that the union representatives would be meeting the ship at the port to discuss conflict resolution and there was no prior mention of inspecting the ship.
“SafeWork NSW had written to us on Sunday saying they [would] not be seeking to board the ship, which had been communicated to our crew. We were certainly surprised by SafeWork’s about-face and the pressure applied to our crew,” Carnival added.
Interestingly, the reports about the 108,865 gross-ton vessel have surfaced after whistleblowers sounded the alarm about unsafe and poor living conditions onboard Carnival Encounter, which is also based in Australia.
Ultimately, an inspection by the AMSA, which Carnival happily accommodated, was not able to substantiate the claims.
