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Questions then relate to her place in the queue, because to be so light she had to have pumped ballast. Was she trying to beat the gale to make a loading slot?
Still, Master's responsibility by the look. Port authority does not extend to ships offshore.
The photos I've seen indicate that she's grounded at or about No3 hatch. If that is so the strain on her hull girder may be unbearable even for a new ship. Salvage here (if possible) may be very difficult, especially after the longshore current build the sand up around her. Be interesting to see what has happened to her overnight.
MarkL
Every cloud has a silver lining though...Central Coast and Hunter needed rain.
09JUN
1930 AEST
Salvage specialists saying very little except that they are still in "assessment/planning" stage. They confirm that there is a damage to outer hull on starboard side and some seepage of seawater. They also advise that there is a metre gap between outer and inner hull structures and that fuel and lubricants tanks are not in the same area. A specialised salvage tug has arrived from Sydney and another is due in port from Melbourne on Wednesday. It is surmised that fuel etc will be removed prior to any attempt to drag the ship off. It is interesting that the Pasha Bulker is lying roughly parallel to the causeway that connects to Nobbies head and the resulting beach formed against the causeway. The ship is said to "flat bottomed" and firmly lodged on sand rather than adjacent reef, sand that no doubt complicates possible salvage depending on wind and sea over the next few days.
This will make life interesting for the salvage effort, as she is now between the shoreline and a line of shallow reefs offshore.
If this effort succeeds in such an exposed spot in winter, it will be one of those quiet epics of salvage we hear so little about in general media. A joke presently being bandied about Newcastle is that the city should forbid salvage, buy the wreck and convert it into 'apartments with a 360 degree ocean view to sell to idiots from Sydney'.
The humour of my fellow Novocastrians may be a little forced, at present, with so much of the city damaged, but it remains.
MarkL
Without GPS I wonder if they could locate the Humber Light Float.
When once the Pilots are on board they show no interest in the Passage inwards to the tugs, if indeed they are even on the bridge and this in dense fog the other day. With the lengthy mooring operation they usually leave the bridge well before their vessel's secure.
In short I'm amazed there's only one bulker aground.
Will there be any changes in the future?
The Minister states that required equipment including pumps, pollution control barriers etc has been gathered from around the country. Also mentioned that there is some mixing of oil and seawater aboard but that it is still proving difficult to assertain extent of hull damage. Fortunately, it appears that there is still no pollution evident in the vicinity. Hull was reballasted yesterday to assist holding in present position and oil is to be moved to higher tanks.
It appears likely that recovery attempts will be commenced Mon 18 due to predicted king tides that day.
Minister claimed salvage team is "best in the world"; that they have developed "best contingency plans for oil containment" and that there is a high level of information exchange in both directions with experts from other countries. John would be pleased to hear that they are using some current technology including E-mail "conferencing"!
One would certainly wish them every success. Carving up the ship and carting it away doesn't bear thinking about.
Salvage Team spokesman advises that they are still searching for a suitable large anchor handling vessel that will be used with three tugs to undertake the operation. Exact extent of underwater damage remains unknown until they refloat the ship. Salvage now proposed for end of the month during spring tides, but described as "difficult and dangerous with no guarantee of success". More severe weather on the way with predicted gale force winds to 90KPH and heavy surf conditions today. Local WebCam was turned on ship for several days but presently showing adjacent beach at:
www.coastalwatch.com/templates/default.aspx
The inquiries have begun with investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau interviewing captains to try and sort out the "messy tangle of liability, ownership and insurance".
Today's Newcastle Herald has an article headed, "Ban on Slow Boats - Port Moves on Ballast Inefficiences". It raises the question as to Pasha Bulker's management of ballasting prior to the grounding.
And I quote - "Pasha Bulker is one of about 50 ships that coal loader operator Port Waratah Coal Services no longer wanted to service because they took too long to pump out ballast water....Port regulations which are consistent with international practice, say that coal ships should not discharge ballast water until they are safely tied up at the wharf. The public nature of the Pasha Bulker's beaching on Friday left many experienced waterfront figures commenting on how high she was sitting and how often her propellor was out of the water. (She) had not been scheduled to (berth) until Tuesday, four days after the beaching.....Anecdotal evidence (suggests) some coal ships have been discharging at least some of their ballast water early, trying to make up time after a three week wait to load. An empty Panamax class ship such as the Pasha Bulker could sit 15 metres higher than a laden one" 60 carriers sitting off ourcoast at present.
My knowledge/experience of big shipping is limited to some yachting and time crewing a 30m motor yacht in the Med some years ago. Never-the-less like so many situations, I'll be surprised if the outcome is limited to a single cause even though the ballasting appears to be an important factor.
Readers may be interested to check out our local news media: www.theherald.com.au/
I am beginning to doubt that they will get her off in one piece. She beached on about 245. Subsequent gales have moved her slightly inshore (maybe a half hull length) and north perhaps 100-150 yards. She now has the Big Ben/Ben Buckler reef right astern of her, and the water appears to be shallowing (sand buildup) between her and the reef, with the possible exception of a scour pit under her stern. Eben this weekend has seen an additional spell of heavy weather, all of which has been onshore.
The grounding is going to cause a lengthy court case, probably in London I suspect. It is alleged (media and 'talk about town', this is NOT CONFIRMED, it is merely ALLEGED, I cannot stress that enough) that Port Waratah has a 'black list' of ships which will not be permitted to load due to slow deballasting rates. It is further alleged that ships on the list have been deballasting early (prior to entry) to accommodate the stevedoring company in this manner, to either try to get off the black list or avoid being placed on it. If so, then these unconfirmed allegations are rather serious, as they may conceivably imply that a stevedoring organisation is forcing Masters to adopt at best a marginally safe operating procedure at penalty of immediate commercial disadvantage. Allegations are also being made of overly-rapid loading of vessels built of higher tensile steels. If so, this may lead to future ship losses as HT ships, if overstressed, have serious cracking and corrosion problems.
Remember the loss of bulk carriers in the Indian Ocean in the 80s and 90s? I'd hate to see such a practise confirmed as occurring anywhere, that sort of thing kills mariners ten years down the track.
This sage bids well for a very long salvage, and an even longer court case.
MarkL
Local radio this morning, interviewed 'one of Australia's leading salvage experts', Brett Divine who believes that the vessel has sustained serious damage below water and may not hold up to the stresses involved in hauling her off. It appears that his company is one of several already discussing plans to dismantle the vessel should the refloating effort fail.
Video and/or audio coverage may be available through following sites:
www.abc.net.au/streaming/
www.nbntv.com.au
www.primetv.com.au/i-cms.isp
Good WebCam pictures at:
http://www.coastalwatch.com/camera/NobbysBeach.htm
The Newcastle coastline does not really need another permanent 'decoration' like the Sygna. I hope she is repairable, and that the hull has not been over stressed.
MarkL
I have enjoyed reading the comments etc. on this site re. Pasha Bulka. How refreshing to here from practical Seamen rather than the so called media experts-Mess Deck Lawers.
Cheers- Gazza --R.A.N. retired.
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