Maritime Museum leaks $6000 a month but needs $350,000 for steam tug

The Queensland Maritime Museum is leaking $6000 a month but needs $350,000 to get the 96-year-old steam tug Forceful back in the water.

The museum is under new management and has launched a fund-raiser, asking for $700,000 to save Forceful, one of the last steam-powered vessels in Australia, as well as keep exhibits open to the public.

ST Forceful is one of the last remaining steam-powered vessels in Australia, with a rare triple-expansion engine type.

The museum was set to close on New Year’s Eve, then extended its life span to January, and although debts continue to hang over it, the museum continues to stay afloat.

The bill for the Forceful includes $190,000 for welding repairs, $95,000 for sandblasting and hull painting, and $65,000 for moving the vessel around the repair yard and lowering it back into the water.

The museum is open every weekend and on select weekdays for tour parties and school groups, making about $10,000 a month, while its monthly expense bill remains $16,000.

QMM chair Captain Kasper Kuiper said the museum closed for more than six months in 2020 because of COVID-19 and was trying to re-establish an income stream and new customers.

Forceful is currently based at the Queensland Maritime Museum in Brisbane.

“This week we did $2000 thanks to people coming through ... but the insurance, lighting, facilities and cleaning cost $16,000 per month - so that’s a $6000 shortfall,” he said.

“It has not been too bad in the past couple of weeks, we’ve had school groups through, a tour group, Navy Reservists and a function last weekend.

“The big one coming is a light show [Imaginaria from Melbourne], who are offering $100,000 to us over four months, but the trouble we have is getting a Brisbane City Council permit.

“We need a council permit for the light show group to base themselves at the museum.”

Captain Kuiper said the fund-raiser for the Forceful and the museum would run in tandem, with a plan for a 30-70 split of all funds received.

“I hope after this plea we are doing for the Forceful, we hope the people of Brisbane will get behind us ... there’s so much history here and that history needs to be shared with the public,” he said.

ST Forceful was towed downriver to The Yard at Hemmant in January for a full health check and was removed from the QMM jetty at the direction of Maritime Safety Queensland.

Captain Kuiper said extra urgency has been placed on the repair of ST Forceful, as Maritime Safety Queensland said the tugboat could pose a risk in any future flood event.

“With new green bridges planned for the Brisbane River, MSQ is mindful the 400-tonne craft could cause significant damage if torn from its mooring by floodwaters,” he said.

Captain Kuiper said there was a proposal to repair Forceful and move it to a dry dock at Kangaroo Point, where it could be used as a function space.

The origin story of the Queensland Maritime Museum stretches back to 1969, when the Queensland branch of the World Ship Society was formed.

This led to talks around establishing a maritime museum in Brisbane.

Residents formed a volunteer group, and in 1971, the Queensland Maritime Museum was founded.

In recent years, the museum has continued to grow its collection and now boasts the largest collection of lighthouse artefacts in the country.