-from tvnz.co.nz-

Drug smugglers appear to be trying a new way of getting drugs into Australia - in metal boxes attached to the hulls of ships.

The alleged new method came to light as a father and son appeared in court accused of smuggling a multi-million dollar haul of cocaine using the Tampa, the cargo ship that became synonymous with Australia’s hardline refugee policies.

International customs officials will fly to Australia to inspect purpose-built metal pods allegedly used to import 27kg of cocaine worth $AU6.75 million on the MV Tampa and its sister ship the MV Taronga.

The method involves attaching pods measuring 50cm by 50cm to the hulls of ships with chains, below the water line.

Australian Customs Service (ACS) deputy chief executive John Drury said the sophisticated method was believed to be an Australian first.

It was more common to find attachments on ships overseas, but those operations were more amateurish and less successful, he said.

Justice Minister Chris Ellison said the alleged smugglers had gone to “extraordinary lengths” to bring the cocaine from South America.

“They were using a method we have not seen before,” Senator Ellison said, adding that neither the shipping line nor its crew were under suspicion.

The arrests were the result of a five-month investigation that followed a tip-off from the New Zealand Customs Service (NZCS).

Police began tracking the alleged plot in June after 18.3kg of the drug was found in a metal box attached to the hull of the Tampa after it arrived in Auckland Harbour from South America, an ACS spokesman said outside court.

The Tampa was monitored by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and ACS as it continued to Australia in July, where NSW police allegedly identified the two men.

It is also alleged that another 8.7kg of cocaine was found in a metal box under the Taronga when it berthed in Auckland in late September, ACS said.

The ship was monitored as it sailed onto Brisbane and when it arrived in Sydney’s Darling Harbour on October 5.

Authorities allege the same people were linked to the drugs on the Tampa and Taronga, and that the drugs were destined for NSW.

Drury said it had been several years since drugs had been detected underneath a ship in Australia.

It would be impossible for divers to inspect all ships, because more than 200 vessels entered Australian ports every week, he said.

There is no suggestion the ships’ owners, Norwegian shipping line Wilh Wilhelmsen, or its employees, were involved in the alleged importation racket.

Michael Anderson, 28, of Mona Vale in Sydney’s north, and his father John Anderson, 66, of The Entrance on the NSW Central Coast, were on Thursday refused bail after appearing in separate courts.

Both are charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug and conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.

Michael Anderson will reappear in Central Local Court on December 20, while his father will face the same court on November 11.

The Tampa won enduring fame in 2001 when it rescued 433 asylum seekers from a sinking Indonesian ferry but was barred from landing them in Australian territory.

The incident became a focal point of Prime Minister John Howard’s successful battle to win the 2001 election.

The asylum seekers were sent to Pacific island detention camps in what became known as the “Pacific solution.”