Life rafts tied down in potentially fatal Emerald class ferry fail

A 50kg life raft blew loose and damaged two passenger seats on a new Emerald Class ferry last week. But a bungled attempt to fix the loose life rafts could have been even more dangerous.

A Manly ferry travelling between Circular Quay and Manly on Monday had its life rafts cable-tied in place in an alarming safety failure which put passengers’ lives at risk.

The cable ties would have stopped the life rafts deploying if the ferry had sunk.

If an emergency had occurred, a crew member would have needed to find the cable ties and cut them off to manually deploy the life rafts.

Passengers are now further being put at risk by life rafts that are in danger of breaking loose, despite industry sources insisting the problem could be fixed with less than $300 worth of equipment, industry sources told The Daily Telegraph.

Transport for NSW is now investigating “how and why” ferries were allowed to enter service with life rafts tied down.

Life rafts on the Clontarf Emerald Class ferry were cable-tied to the storage racks after one flew free and damaged two bench seats. Picture: Chris Cowper

The cable ties would have stopped the life rafts automatically deploying.

It comes after a tragic accident was narrowly avoided when a 50 kilogram life raft broke loose, smashing into and damaging two empty passenger seats on Friday.

If the life raft had hit someone, they “could have been killed easily,” an industry source said.

In an attempt to stop the life rafts breaking loose again, they were sent for repairs where they were cable tied in place. In a major bungle, the cable ties were not removed before at least one ferry entered service.

The cable ties were only removed after they were discovered by ferry crews who deemed them to be unsafe.

A tragic accident has been narrowly avoided after a 50-kilogram lifeboat came loose from its storage on a new Emerald ferry, smashing into and damaging empty passenger seats.

The Maritime Union of Australia’s Paul Garrett said cable-tying the life rafts “clearly put lives at risk”.

“If this has been done during repairs, it’s absolute incompetence from the company responsible, and again shows why these vessels should not have been built overseas in such a cheap and nasty fashion,” he said.

Because the cable ties have now been removed, there is a risk that the heavy life rafts could again break loose and hit passengers, sources said.

Sources told The Daily Telegraph that the wrong clips are being used to keep the life rafts secure.

They said the problem across all three Emerald Class ferries could be fixed by buying 12 “Senhouse Slips” worth about $23 each.

In a statement, ferry operator Transdev said the cable ties were installed during repairs to “enable easier workings during repair” and should have been removed.

“The ties should have been removed once works were complete however they were not,” a spokeswoman said.

Life rafts on the Clontarf Emerald Class ferry have been cable-tied to the storage racks after one flew free and damaged two bench seats. Picture: Chris Cowper / Facebook,

Mr Garrett called for safety authorities to be involved in a proper investigation.

“It’s high time for the Transport Minister David Elliot to get the Office of Transport Safety Investigation involved, and work with Transdev Sydney Ferries and the ferry workers to get these vessels safe,” Mr Garrett said.

Labor’s Transport spokesman Jo Haylen said tragedy was only avoided when the life raft blew loose because the seats were empty.

“It’s a miracle that nobody was injured or worse. These overseas built Emerald Class 2 ferries have faced issue after issue when it comes to safety,” she said.

“This latest incident on an Emerald Class 2 ferry raises questions as to why Transport for NSW won’t release its internal review into the Emeralds to the public. This is starting to look like a cover up.”

The safety fail is the latest problem to hit the plagued overseas-built Emerald Class ferries.

Earlier this year The Daily Telegraph revealed that a passenger on one of the new fleet nearly had their fingers “taken off” when a door slammed shut during travel, leading to doors being locked in high-wind situations.