Brisbane floods 2011: Tugboat hero plays down actions

HE was one of the big heroes of the 2011 Brisbane floods, but the tugboat skipper who became a national identity has played down his actions from that fateful January day.

THE tugboat hero of the 2011 Brisbane floods has downplayed his actions from that fateful day as just “something that I had to do”.

Without him, though, a 1200-tonne walkway would have slammed into the Gateway Bridge, causing untold damage.

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Former tugboat skipper Doug Hislop became a national hero after carefully manoeuvring a 300m-long, floating concrete “missile” from smashing into the busy bridge.

Today marks five years since the beginning of the flood crisis that left devastation across first the Lockyer Valley then Ipswich and Brisbane.

The 2011 floods claimed the lives of 38 people, damaged more than 30,000 homes and caused more than $2 billion worth of damage. Mr Hislop, 71, became emotional when speaking to The Courier-Mail yesterday as he remembered being aboard the tugboat with long-time friend Peter Fenton.

“It was dark and at the top of the tide,” he said.

“We were waiting for high tide which was 4am; myself and Peter. We had about 10 minutes, I suppose, from the time the walkway had broken away to when it would hit the bridge.”

Watched from above by media helicopters, the two experienced boatmen successfully nudged the walkway through the pillars of the bridge and out on to Nudgee Beach.

“We struggled to get it through the bridge because the tide was running faster than we could travel,” Mr Hislop said.

Former tugboat skipper Doug Hislop became a national hero after carefully manoeuvring a 300m-long, floating concrete “missile” from smashing into the Gateway Bridge.

“It was like a bottleneck there and at the very highest part of the flood. The water was flowing past us quicker than 12 knots (22km/hr).”

The pair was on board Mr Hislop’s 50-foot, 8000-horsepower tugboat Mavis as they powered through the raging torrent of water.

“It was the ideal boat for what we had to do, small, manoeuvrable and powerful.

“I was never really concerned about our safety. The worst that could’ve happened was for something to have gone wrong and we ended up looking like idiots.”

Now the only one left to tell the tale, Mr Hislop choked back tears as he remembered his good friend Peter Fenton, who died in an industrial accident aboard a barge at Pinkenba in 2011.

Though the tugboat has been put away, Mr Hislop continues to work on the river as a part time skipper on board a river boat cruise.

“The river is where I belong,’’ he said.