FILE PHOTO OF THE TAMPA OFF CHRISTMAS ISLAND WHICH HAS WON A HUMANITARIAN AWARD FOR RESCUING BOATPEOPLE FROM A SINKING FERRY

Australian special force soldiers (foreground) ride their inflatable boat past the Norwegian freighter Tampa off the coast of Christmas Island in this file photo from August 30, 2001. Australia congratulated the captain of the Tampa on Wednesday for receiving a humanitarian award for rescuing asylum seekers but defended its refusal to allow the asylum seekers onto Australian soil. The captain, the ship's owners and the crew won this year's Nansen Refugee Award for their actions on the Indian ocean last August, when they charged to the rescue of asylum seekers on a sinking Indonesian ferry. REUTERS/Jason Reed/File photo