City Beat Confidential: Double-decker CityCat in dry dock
Launched to much fanfare, Brisbane’s next-generation double-decker CityCat is now languishing in dry dock due to a litany of problems, including two accidents.
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The best in news and gossip from Brisbane’s business movers and shakers – this is City Beat Confidential.
CITYCAT DRAMAS
What a difference a year makes.
Back in November 2019, Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner launched Yoogera, the city’s first double-decker CityCat.
“Our new CityCat represents the evolution of river travel and provides a truly breathtaking way for both residents and visitors to get around Brisbane and explore all there is to see and do,’’ he gushed.
Today, the 27m vessel rests in dry dock in the Murarrie shipyard of the manufacturer, Aus Ships.
It’s been there for a few weeks as part of what a City Council spin doctor said was “scheduled annual maintenance’’.
But it’s unclear how long the catamaran will be out of action.
Our sources say that it may be idle for a while because of possible hull damage and an electrolysis problem tied to the rudder stock.
Council would not respond to questions about these matters.
The issue is particularly relevant since Yoogera was involved in two prangs last month.
It collided with Northshore Terminal on September 8 and then ran into the UQ terminal on September 28.
There were no injuries and the vessel, which cost nearly $4 million, continued operating in both cases. But the incidents were serious enough that the Australian Marine Safety Authority was notified and they told us unspecified “mechanical failure’’ was to blame.
City Beat spies say the accidents are indicative of what we revealed earlier this year: the 43-tonne boat is too heavy and too wide for its assigned task, creating problems with berthing and wash.
That’s not all.
We have obtained a handwritten logbook used by the Yoogera crew which reveals a litany of operational problems from the moment it started cruising.
The entries indicate numerous dramas with the electrical system, including those impacting the airconditioning and video cameras.
“Vessel is struggling to keep up batterywise,’’ one note says.
Issues also flared with the steering, port starter motor, bilge pumps, alternator belts and flooding. At one point, an operator reported that he was forced to “use emergency steering sparingly’’.
Despite these problems, council has already launched the second double-decker CityCat, Neville Bonner, and will wheel out five more in the years ahead.
But a marine industry source familiar with the boats says they need to be redesigned before ratepayers cough up more money for them.
“Why was the second one ordered before the first one fully trialled?’’ he asked.
Aus Ships boss Tommy Ericson declined to comment.
CRY FOR HELP
The lead plaintiff in the 2011 Brisbane floods class action has written to both Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Opposition leader Deb Frecklington seeking their help to resolve the long-running dispute.
Business owner Vince Rodriguez, whose Fairfield sporting goods store suffered huge damage in the disaster, said that he and nearly 7000 other victims in the lawsuit “have become incredibly frustrated by the constant delays in our pursuit of justice’’.
“We are asking both major parties that if they form Government to step in and deliver a whole-of-government approach to help expedite justice,’’ Rodriguez wrote.
“The appeals and the disputes over insurance coverage that are taking place are hindering our pursuit of justice nearly 10 years on.’’
Although Rodriguez contacted them last week and sought a response by Tuesday, neither campaign wrote back. Spin doctors for both parties also did not provide comment after City Beat rang.
Flood victims scored a landmark legal win last November when the NSW Supreme Court ruled that state-owned dam entities Seqwater and SunWater were negligent in their operation of Wivenhoe Dam. Compensation could be as high as $1 billion.
But both Seqwater and SunWater appealed the decision. While the state government has not fought the ruling, law firm Maurice Blackburn claims it’s trying to “piggy back’’ on the appeal.
A three-day mediation in September to reach a settlement ended in failure but another session has been scheduled for December 8.
GROWING OPPOSITION
The widow of the late great architect Harry Seidler has added her voice to the mushrooming protest against the proposed $2.1 billion redevelopment of Eagle Street Pier and Waterfront Place.
In a submission to the Brisbane City Council this month, Penelope Seidler says she is “horrified’’ by the plans put forward by the owner, property giant Dexus.
“It would obviously have a detrimental impact on the iconic Brisbane waterfront,’’ she writes.
Her opposition would seem to carry a bit of extra weight, considering she is an architect in her own right and still runs the firm Harry Seidler & Associates in Sydney.
Harry was an influential and award-winning architect before he passed away in 2006.
He left his mark in Brisbane in a big way, designing two of the CBD’s standout waterfront towers, Riverside Center and Riparian Plaza.
Dexus hopes to build two mixed-used skyscrapers as part of its “Waterfront Brisbane’’ scheme, which would include new ground-level retail spaces and a redesigned riverside walkway.
But Penelope says the plan is “anathema’’ to the city skyline.
“Waterfront Brisbane appears as an over-scaled wall of glass positioned without any regard to the established principles respected in the design of all other towers to their mutual benefit and to the benefit of this part of Brisbane,’’ she says.
“The building shape forms a wall separating the city from the river.’’
Her opposition follows objections lodged this month by owners of multimillion-dollar units in Riparian Plaza, including jobs queen Sarina Russo and former Collection House boss John Pearce.
Building owner Bloomberg Incorporation has also weighed in, slamming the Dexus scheme as too intense and “Sydney-centric’’.
Dexus has declined to comment on the criticism.
PARKING ALTERNATIVE
A couple of young entrepreneurs have come up with an app-based solution for all that under-utilised carparking space that often sits empty in commercial buildings.
Jack Perkins and Alex Peck launched their BaseUp business three years ago and today they manage more than 350 parking bays in Brisbane.
Clients include big corporates such as Charter Hall, Centuria and Brookfield.
The BaseUp app allows the staff and tenants of landlords with big parking inventories to book space on a casual basis during off-peak hours.
Half-day and full-day rates are up to 40 per cent cheaper than alternative parking garages.
The company, which raised $1.5 million from investors last year, makes money on a “software as service’’ basis, as well as per-bay cut.
Perkins has forecast growth for the company as more workers return to their offices after lockdown and other parking options remain more expensive.
“There’s definitely a move to flexibility,’’ he said.
“The parking market is being shaken and we haven’t seen that in a long time.’’