Australian authority denies delaying boat rescues

The Australian Maritime Search and Rescue Authority has denied that it delayed assisting asylum seekers on a stricken vessel that sank near Christmas Island, leaving a baby boy drowned and eight people missing, presumed dead.

Asylum seeker advocates have accused the authority of not taking asylum seeker distress calls seriously as the death toll of refugees drowning on their way to Australia continues to mount. It's not that complicated ... you can narrow the search area down pretty easily. Pamela Curr, campaign co-ordinator from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said it appeared authorities were deliberately delaying until incidents reached crisis point. ''We are concerned that a pattern has developed where boats seek assistance and that assistance is not rendered until people are in the water,'' she said. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said its Rescue Coordination Centre first received a call about the vessel, which had 97 people from Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka on board, at 11.15am on Friday. It requested assistance from Border Protection Command to locate the vessel at 12.31pm and after identifying the area, alerted other ships in the vicinity at 3.05pm. An oil tanker was the first ship to respond but the Australian customs vessel Triton did not arrive at the scene until 10pm, 30 minutes before the asylum seeker boat capsized. An Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman said assistance was offered in a reasonable time frame. "The Australian Maritime Safety Authority takes all calls for assistance seriously.