TasWeekend: Push for underwater wonder world

EAST Coast tourism operators and the Tasmanian Government have joined forces in a bid to secure former navy vessel the HMAS Darwin – to be scuttled off the Bay of Fires, creating a world-class recreational dive site.

A new reef begins to form around the wreck of the HMAS Brisbane, which was sunk off Mooloolaba. Picture: Gillian Davison/Noosa Blue Water Dive

BIDDING wars tend to break out around the ­country whenever the Royal Australian Navy ­decommissions one of its ships.

Ex-navy vessels are highly sought after for use as artificial reefs around the Australian coastline. Opportunities to buy one are rare, and ­competition is tough because they are virtually irresistible ­destinations for recreational divers.

Tasmania’s rugged coastline is already strewn with countless shipwrecks – a legacy of our notoriously treacherous waters and even more treacherous weather – but one thing we do not have is our own decommissioned navy dive wreck.

Not for want of trying, though. On the East Coast, the Break O’Day Council and State Government, along with local business and interest groups, put forward a proposal in 2001 to secure the decommissioned HMAS Brisbane for use as an artificial reef and dive attraction off the coast of Skeleton Bay near the Bay of Fires. The bid was unsuccessful, with the Sunshine Coast winning the vessel.

Then, in 2016, Tasmania again attempted to win an ex-navy ship for the East Coast, this time the HMAS Tobruk. But again Queensland scooped the pool.

Now, with the recently retired HMAS Darwin up for grabs, Peter Paulsen from Bay of Fires Dive hopes it will finally ­be Tasmania’s turn to scuttle a naval ship off its coast and have its own world-class dive tourism site.

“We are currently the only state that doesn’t have a vessel of this nature sunk off our coastline so we think we have a good argument for this one,” Paulsen says.

“It would be such a boost for tourism. These wrecks often ­become bucket-list items for divers and there are many divers who only dive wrecks.

“I currently see a few hundred visitors every summer through my business but if we scuttled the Darwin, off the Bay of Fires, we could expect to see anywhere between 5000 and 7000 ­divers a year visiting the wreck alone.”

The proposal included a detailed economic analysis and a marine and environmental impact study. We basically told them to try and find a reason why it should not be here, and they couldn’t. – Peter Paulsen

Paulsen, a former cray and abalone fisherman who now ­operates his own dive business, has been a vocal advocate and driving force behind the East Coast’s bids for an artificial reef since the first proposal in 2001.

The State Government lodged this most recent proposal with the Australian Government at the beginning of the year and it is hoped a decision will be made by July but there has been no word so far. South Australia and Queensland are also ­believed to have made submissions for the HMAS Darwin.

If successful, it will cost the Tasmanian Government an ­estimated $6 million to have the vessel towed, stripped, cleaned and scuttled in around 30m of water, 800m offshore from the famous Bay of Fires beach.

Part military memorial, part environmental refuge, part ­tourist attraction, Paulsen says having the HMAS Darwin ­become an artificial reef in Tasmanian waters is expected to be a huge benefit to the state if the bid is successful.

The HMAS Darwin spent 33 years in service and sailed than one million nautical miles. Picture: AAP

The value of such an artificial reef should not be under­estimated, says Paulsen, with the appeal to divers being just the tip of the iceberg.

Purposely scuttled vessels are popular diving locations and divers are attracted not just because they are fascinating ­structures to explore underwater, but also because they quickly become home to all manner of sea life.

The location proposed for scuttling the HMAS Darwin is an expanse of barren sand on the sea floor, meaning ­it is unlikely to destroy any existing marine environment and will instead provide a new instant habitat.

“From a scientific perspective, an artificial reef is a fascinating chance to just drop something on to the sand and observe the speed with which it gets occupied,” Paulsen says.

“This sort of organic fuzz usually moves in first and coats everything, followed by seaweed, and then the fish come for the seaweed and soon there is all this life around it.

“And because it is a diving area, there is an exclusion zone around it where fishing isn’t allowed, so the wreck basically ­becomes a marine life haven.”

The navy is responsible for removing any trace of fuel and other contaminants from the vessel before it is handed over to the state for further preparations before finally being ­scuttled. This usually means removing interior doors and bulkheads and cutting holes in the hull to help it sink in an upright position and allow better access for divers.

So by the time the ship hits the seabed, it is nothing but a very clean steel shell, which will take hundreds of years to rust away, meaning the environmental impact is negligible.

If we scuttled the Darwin, off the Bay of Fires, we could expect to see anywhere between 5000 and 7000 ­divers a year visiting the wreck alone. – Peter Paulsen

But first Tasmania will have to win the bid. And, according to Paulsen, the state came so tantalisingly close with the HMAS Tobruk bid that it should be viewed as a favourite for the HMAS Darwin.

“Usually every time an ex-navy ship was awarded to a state for use as an artificial reef, it was paid for by the Commonwealth, essentially donated,” he says. “But when we applied for the HMAS Tobruk, we were told that the State Government would have to pay for it instead, which we didn’t think was fair.

“Every other time a state secured one of these ships, the Commonwealth paid for it, but we would have had to find the money ourselves, and the state couldn’t afford it but Queensland could. So we lost it.”

Prior to making the submission for the HMAS Tobruk, ­Paulsen says the Tasmanian Government and Break O’Day Council completed extensive environmental impact and ­feasibility studies which were so thorough that they were able to be easily adapted to suit the next proposal, for the HMAS ­Darwin, which is a similar sized vessel and would be scuttled in the same spot.

“The proposal included a detailed economic analysis and a marine and environmental impact study by a company called Marine Solutions,” Paulsen says. “We basically told them to try and find a reason why it should not be here, and they couldn’t.

“There were some people in the community with concerns for various reasons, but those fears were very easily put to rest. Some were worried about pollution from oil and asbestos, but all of that is meticulously cleaned from the ship before it comes anywhere near the final destination. There will be no visual ­impact as it will be completely beneath the water, and it won’t break up and wash up on the beach because it is made from steel, which doesn’t float, so it isn’t going anywhere.”

Peter Paulsen from Bay of Fires Dive hopes it will finally ­be Tasmania’s turn to scuttle a naval ship off its coast and have its own world-class dive tourism site.

Paulsen also hopes the process of preparing the ship for scuttling will have strong flow-on effects for the local ­community and economy.

“My hope is that she would be stripped and prepared at Bell Bay before being towed to the East Coast for scuttling. When Queensland got the Tobruk, she was towed to Bundaberg and parked at a wharf there so all the tradies, all the equipment, all the food bought on lunch breaks, all came from the local ­community, and all that money poured into the local economy, and it would be great if that happened here as well,” he says.

“And having that big ship sitting there for so long, it obviously attracted a lot of attention, so they had open days for people to visit, it became a big talking point and people took ownership of the project.”

An artificial reef is a fascinating chance to just drop something on to the sand and observe the speed with which it gets occupied. This sort of organic fuzz usually moves in first ... followed by seaweed and then the fish come ... so the wreck basically ­becomes a marine life haven. – Peter Paulsen

Break O’Day Mayor Mick Tucker is an enthusiastic supporter of the project, pledging to work closely with the State ­Government should the current bid be successful.

“Through the development of an economic analysis for the sinking of ex-HMAS Tobruk, which we lost to Queensland last year, we are more than aware of the economic benefits that a project of this scale will bring to our region,” Tucker says.

Paulsen says, as well as the divers who would flock to the East Coast to dive the wreck, they would bring family members with them, who would visit other local attractions and ­businesses and stay for a couple of days, feeding into the ­region’s accommodation industry.

He believes such a wreck could also attract non-divers to the area, as other artificial reefs around Australia had also become destinations for people who wanted to visit the final resting place of former navy vessels.

Liberal Lyons MP Guy Barnett, Minister for Resources, ­Energy, Building and Construction, and Veterans’ Affairs, says the HMAS Darwin would be a unique tourism attraction.

“We have submitted a bid to the Federal Government and if we are successful we will negotiate a deal that’s in the best interests of Tasmania,” Barnett says. “Without wanting to prejudice any future negotiations, we’re open to considering all options to secure the HMAS Darwin for Tasmania.”

While a final decision is still pending, Paulsen is trying to stay optimistic that this will be Tasmania’s turn. However, he says even if the bid is successful, it could still be another three years before the wreck reaches its final resting place.

“I really hope we get this one,” he says. “It is the kind of dive site that is impossible to replicate and I can’t imagine we will get another one.”