The name SIEVX is a naval acronym, standing for Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel X – or unknown. The navy applied numbers to over ten vessels it intercepted around this time.
SIEVX was not numbered by the navy, but given the number X by Australian diplomat Tony Kevin who first queried the official account of the sinking. As the real name of the vessel is not known it has become the name that stuck.
Ever since the news first broke about the SIEVX tragedy, questions have been raised about the role of the Australian government in the sinking.
These have included allegations that our government knew about the voyage beforehand, that it failed to mount a rescue which could have saved many lives, and gravest of all, that Australia paid agents to disrupt and sabotage people-smuggling vessels, and this might have caused the tragedy.
Some of these implications were lent authority by Labor Senator John Faulkner following the Certain Maritime Incident inquiry in 2002 and detailed in three speeches to the Senate.
