A Chinese bulker has been banned from Australian ports for a year after "deliberately underpaying crew," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said.

Information was received on 6 July from the ITF union alleging discrepancies in the pay of seafarers on the 76,000-dwt Shandong Hai Wang (built 2014).

AMSA surveyors boarded the ship on arrival in Gladstone on 7 July to investigate.