Bulk carrier MBA Giovanni appears off coast of Urunga

Witness reports seeing massive bulk carrier ‘headed straight towards Valla Beach’, on the state’s Mid North Coast.

Italian bulk carrier MBA Giovanni is listed as 'not under command' and is situated off the coast of the mid north coast town of Urunga.

More details have emerged about the puzzling appearance of a giant ship sitting close to shore south of Coffs Harbour.

The Italian bulk carrier MBA Giovanni has been situated a few kilometres offshore at Urunga for much of Saturday, however, there have been multiple reports of the vessel coming closer to shore.

Christina Barry was on Valla Beach, about 40 km south of Coffs Harbour this morning when she saw what appeared to be a “dark cloud” in the distance. It wasn’t long before Ms Barry registered it as a bulk carrier heading in her direction.

“It came in really close. It was headed straight towards Valla Beach,” she said.

Suddenly, the ship changed direction and Ms Barry said it started heading north.

“I don’t know why it came in so quick. I was so surprised by its closeness.”

The course trajectory of the MBA Giovanni as seen on marinetraffic.com. Why the 93,000 tonne cargo ship was headed toward Valla Beach is unknown. The ship was later listed as 'Not under command' for several hours as it sat off the coast of Urunga.

The ship was listed on a maritime traffic website as being “not under command” which traditionally means a vessel is unable to manoeuvre and unable to keep out of the way of another vessel.

The ship is on its way to Newcastle, with NSW Port Authority listing it as due to arrive on Tuesday evening.

Little more is known about the ship and Transport for NSW – Maritime, Australian Maritime Safety Authority and Port of Newcastle have all been contacted for comment.