Investigation launched as Spirit of Tasmania breaks free from moorings at Melbourne’s Station Pier
UPDATE: THE SPIRIT of Tasmania II will require major repairs, after a freak storm lashed the popular passenger ship, and many passengers are heading for the airport.
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UPDATE: THE SPIRIT of Tasmania II will require major repairs, after a freak storm lashed the popular passenger ship and many passengers are heading for the airport.
The ship’s sky-bridge was extensively damaged when mooring broke and thrashed the vessel into a sandbar metres from Port Melbourne beach yesterday evening.
Spirit of Tasmania acting CEO Stuart McCall said the incident was “a freak accident.”
So this doesn't close anymore pic.twitter.com/3neMb3rPfo
— Geoff O'Callaghan (@mrpointy) January 13, 2016“The ship was anticipating a storm of some front and some size,” he said.
“The front that came through was significantly bigger than what was anticipated.”
Nine of ten ropes used to moor the ship during the storm were broken in the ferocious winds.
Extra mooring was put in place to secure the ship during the storm, but Mr McCall did not know how many additional ropes were used.
READ THE FULL STATEMENT BELOW
“There were extra heavy precautions in place,” he said.
Mr McCall said it was “purely coincidence” that no cars or people were on the loading bridge at the time it became damaged.
He did not know when the boat would be repaired.
“It’s going to take longer than hours... we will just have to wait and see what the assessment is.”
Passengers are still waiting to retrieve their cars from the Spirit of Tasmania this morning, despite cranes working to stabilise the loading ramp.
About 65 undamaged passenger vehicles are still on board the Spirit of Tasmania II which has sat idle at Station Pier since 6pm last night.
Passengers stayed overnight on the ship and all have departed the boat this morning.
Mr McCall said Tasmanian residents on the disrupted service would have priority seats on the next Devonport service departing 7.30pm tonight.
“We are trying to accommodate all people who can be repatriated to their home on that vessel tonight,” he said.
“Anyone that’s trying to get home, whether it’s tonight or tomorrow, we are prioritising their travel.”
“We will put on a double sailing schedule for the foreseeable future, until we understand the extent of the damage and how long it will take to be repaired,” he said.
Passenger Mark Charles was going on a work trip with a colleague and has now booked flights to Tasmania tonight after spending last night on the ship.
“We were waiting to go on ... then there was a lot of screaming and that’s when the ramp was collapsing,” he said.
“The back of the boat was turning around 90 degrees and that’s when (the ropes) basically just snapped.
“It was pretty scary. At that point nobody knew what was going on.
“Everyone got out safe, that’s the main thing.”
Newcastle residents Terry O’Neill and Noeline Howlett’s eight week Tasmanian holiday was cut short.
“The worst part was trying to find out what was going on,” Mr O’Neill said.
“We had to wait between 6pm-9pm to find out what was going on.”
Spirit of Tasmania not sailing... But we can stay on board in our luxury accom.. Free food & drinks all night. #spiritoftasmania
— Tracee Hutchison (@traceehutch) January 13, 2016On board floating hotel #spiritoftasmania - could be a long night... pic.twitter.com/6o0IYqI38D
— Tracee Hutchison (@traceehutch) January 13, 2016The pair were about to drive their motorbikes onto the boat when they saw the ramp crash into the water.
Ms Howlett said they would wait to see if they could get on the Spirit Of Tasmania I later today.
Backpacker Jackson Woodley was planning to hitch a ride to Tasmania for a ‘rainbow gathering’ when he arrived at Station Pier this morning.
But after finding out what had happened to the Spirit of Tasmania last night, he wasn’t overly concerned about the delay to his trip.
“There’s no change, I’ll just hang around here for a few days and play some music and wait for the next barge to head out,” he said.
Beachgoers were evacuated in dramatic scenes amid fears the 28,000 tonne ship would run aground. A tugboat scrambled to drag the ship back away from the beach before it was secured back at the dock at 8pm.
Passengers were allowed to board the ship after it was secured, and received free accommodation and food.
One passenger, who spoke from aboard the ship last night, said: “We were 80 metres from mounting at the beach before a tugboat came and pulled us at full speed back into the ocean.
“The whole beach was evacuated and firefighters and police are both on the boat and on the shore.”
Broadcaster Tracee Hutchison and husband Simon Ashford were planning a special trip to Tasmania for his 50th birthday.
“We were on the passenger terminal waiting to board and we saw the storm come in across Port Phillip Bay and thought it’s a freak storm.
“Then we heard the almighty crash and turned around and literally saw the boat doing a quarter turn. We thought, that can’t be good.”
Ms Hutchison said nobody was on the car bridge at the time of the crash.
“We’d booked a very expensive room (onboard) for a very significant birthday for my husband, so for us, it was a pretty eventful but not a terribly traumatic evening,” she said.
The pair still plan to celebrate the milestone and booked flights immediately after learning they would not be sailing last night.
Cranes worked to secure the vessel’s damaged sky-bridge early this morning to allow passenger cars to be removed.
Spirit of Tasmania I departed Devonport last night and is expected to arrive in Melbourne about 2pm to 3pm today.
Spirit of Tasmania II will be moved from its current location to allow Spirit of Tasmania I to dock. That service will then depart to Devonport at 7.30pm.
Tonight’s service is running to schedule and should accommodate both original passengers and those from last night’s disrupted service.
Changes to the way Spirit of Tasmania deals with adverse whether conditions will be looked at in the investigation.
Passengers were offered a full refund.
“We are grateful everyone came out of this exercise unscathed,” Mr McCall said.
The State Emergency Service had 400 calls for assistance by 9pm after the cool change swept through Victoria.
Of those, 195 were for fallen trees and 53 for minor building damage.
The worst-hit areas included Melbourne’s outer east and northeast, Colac, Warragul and Mildura.
The freak wind came after Victorians sweltered through a 42C day.A top of 19C and a few showers are forecast for Melbourne today.
SPIRIT OF TASMANIA STATEMENT
Spirit of Tasmania I will operate a double sailing schedule – starting tonight (14 January) – to cover the absence of Spirit of Tasmania II while the vessel is repaired.
Some passengers’ travel plans will be affected – passengers originally booked to travel on a night sailing may have to travel on a new day crossing.
Spirit of Tasmania will contact affected passenger via SMS and / or email as soon as practical.
Spirit of Tasmania II’s internal loading ramp was damaged when extreme winds forced mooring lines to break at Station Pier in Melbourne.
The full extent of the damage will be assessed today.
Spirit of Tasmania II will not sail until further notice.
The vast majority of passengers scheduled to board Spirit of Tasmania II for the voyage to Devonport last night were accommodated on the vessel and were provided with complimentary food and beverages.
Sixty five passenger vehicles that were loaded before the incident will be unloaded as soon as practical this morning.
Passengers with vehicles on the wharf will be asked to return to their vehicles this morning and leave the wharf area.
Spirit of Tasmania will do its best to accommodate people scheduled to return home on last night’s crossing on tonight’s voyage.
Spirit of Tasmania I departed Devonport late last night (13 January) and will arrive in Melbourne early afternoon today (14 January).
Spirit of Tasmania will be providing affected Spirit of Tasmania II passengers with a full refund.
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