Investigation launched as Spirit of Tasmania breaks free from moorings at Melbourne’s Station Pier
HUNDREDS of passengers remain stranded after a cruise ship smashed into a pier amid 100kmh winds in Melbourne.
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UPDATE: THE damaged Spirit of Tasmania’s sister ship is coming to the rescue, but stranded passengers are heading to the airport instead.
TT-Line Company spokesman Nicolas Turner said Spirit of Tasmania I will operate a double sailing schedule while the damaged Spirit of Tasmania II is repaired after 100km/h wind gusts blew it free of its moorings at Station Pier about 6pm yesterday.
The ship’s loading ramp was twisted in the incident, throwing 650 passengers’ travel plans in disarray.
So this doesn't close anymore pic.twitter.com/3neMb3rPfo
— Geoff O'Callaghan (@mrpointy) January 13, 2016The Spirit of Tasmania I departed Devonport last night and will arrive in Port Melbourne in the early afternoon.
Mr Turner said the company will do its best to put stranded passengers on tonight’s voyage back to Devonport, but some are opting to fly from Melbourne Airport instead after TT-Line offered a full refund. READ THE FULL STATEMENT BELOW
It is not known how long it will take for the damaged ship to return to service, but TT-Line said it will not operate until further notice.
Sixty-five cars that were loaded onto the ship before the incident “will be unloaded as soon as practical this morning”, Mr Turner said.
“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,” Mr Turner said.
“Spirit of Tasmania will contact affected passenger via SMS and / or email as soon as practical.”
Crews are working to fix the internal loading ramp.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has confirmed inspectors are checking the ship for damage and will investigate the incident.
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.”
The 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.
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, 2016Meanwhile, Tasmanian Kim Ackerley didn’t enjoy the experience.
“It’s really bad. There was no information. When they said they had information they were very late with it,” she said.
“I’ve got dogs in the kennels and our children are at home waiting for us to return this morning.”
Ms Ackerley said the Spirit of Tasmania should have had a proper evacuation process in place.
Geoff Stride, from Ormond, was the last to attempt to get his car on the ship when the storm hit.
“It broke the stern, ropes popped, there was an explosive sound,” he said.
He took up the offer of a night’s stay on the ship and expected to lose “a couple of grand” if he couldn’t get to Tasmania.
Investigators for the Port of Melbourne are determining what happened.
“The Harbour Master will be looking into the circumstances of this incident,” Port spokesman Peter Harry said.
Mr Harry said preliminary investigations did not show damage to the pier.
A spokesman for TT-Line, which owns Spirit of Tasmania and leases the berth from Port of Melbourne, confirmed it would also investigate the incident.
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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