Charter boat on fire and sinking off Lady Musgrave

[marto78]

Just heard this on the news theres about 40 people on it apparently.

Anone else heard anything?

[Shark Poker]

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/05/11/17/06/reports-vessel-carrying-42-people-is-on-fire-and-sinking-off-lady-musgrave-island

I read another article from QAS which reported all persons were recovered and back on dry land.

[Moejoes]

That place is jinx at the moment.....
Hope all Ok

[hungry6]

Is this the same boat parked on a sand bank last year?

[Jsmfun]

It's the musgrave ferry (it was full of tourists)

[Jsmfun]

It's the musgrave ferry (it was full of tourists)
everyones SAFE.......now there will be a new spot to fish.which will break the trip to musgrave up:P (To soon for this)!

[scottar]

everyones SAFE.......now there will be a new spot to fish.which will break the trip to musgrave up:P (To soon for this)!

Yup. Too soon. Usually takes a while at least before the fish take up residence:P

[outta line]

Did it go down ? How dose a boat like that sink

[ozynorts]

It had fires in both engine rooms and it couldn't be put out.
By the time we got out there it was a mess.
Thanks to some local Spanner crab boats and a VMR boat from Gladstone we were able to get everyone back safely. It was a long night.

[Crunchy]

both engine rooms? How the hell would that happen?

[hainsofast]

everyones SAFE.......now there will be a new spot to fish.which will break the trip to musgrave up:P (To soon for this)!
Head over to Musgrave and camp on the spirit of 170 platform, it will be empty for a while now

[ozynorts]

everyones SAFE.......now there will be a new spot to fish.which will break the trip to musgrave up:P (To soon for this)!

You would need the GPS mark first..... ;)

[Crunchy]

40 odd passegers on board, I think that boat could carry around 160 pax, during the school hols it is packed with kids...lucky this didn't happen a month ago.

[outta line]

It had fires in both engine rooms and it couldn't be put out.
By the time we got out there it was a mess.
Thanks to some local Spanner crab boats and a VMR boat from Gladstone we were able to get everyone back safely. It was a long night.


Did is it go down ??...

[ozynorts]

It has gone down to the best of our knowledge. There is an effort now to locate it before the 1000lts of fuel still on board doesn't case a spill on the reef.

[Jsmfun]

You would need the GPS mark first..... ;)
that is why we have you posted there ozynorts;) and a beer slush fund should be heading your way shortly ;D

[hainsofast]

well done ozynorts and all the VMR and emergency services for ensuring all were safe, hats off to ya

[Almako]

Scary stuff.
Excuse my ignorance but with a boat like this, what's it aluminium or steel? and if so does the heat from the fire melt it? Ie how does a boat like this sink when it's made from these materials. I suppose there would be rubber seals through the hull where the prop shafts are.. That would do it?

It's only 40m on the inside of the reef, so it shouldn't be to hard to find?

As I said excuse my ignorance.

[Aussie123]

That boat is aluminium and when the alloy reaches a certain temperature it becomes highly flammable and burns like everything else.

[ozynorts]

Any metal will melt if hot enough and ali is a relatively soft metal. By the time we got out there you could see holes in the side of the hull where the fire was burning through. Once the fire burnt low enough and the water from the nearly 2m swell started splashing in the holes and filling the hull it would go down all right. Prior to abandoning ship the crew reported it as sinking so it must have started taking on water somewhere.

[scottar]

That boat is aluminium and when the alloy reaches a certain temperature it becomes highly flammable and burns like everything else.

Burns a bit different - bloody near impossible to put it out. Bit odd it got to this stage on a commercial vessel. The fire monitoring and suppression on our tugs is checked monthly if not fortnightly. The fire may have damaged the raw water inlets in the engine room if it had enough intensity or there were rubber hoses but once again - not normal in a commercial vessel.

[Aussie123]

The crew have said the engine exploded so who knows what happened.

[fishtragic]

Damn, I'll have to punch the sea myself without the big girl as a wave breaker to follow out now. Marine life at Musgrave will be in shock with no tourists clomping and splashing around for a while. Well done Ozy for the rescue effort.

[fishtragic]

And great effort by the skipper, crew and the authorities getting everyone ashore safely. This is why nobody should take sea survival courses lightly.

[scottar]

And great effort by the skipper, crew and the authorities getting everyone ashore safely. This is why nobody should take sea survival courses lightly.

Absolutely - specially the fire fighting component. The one I did included a couple of days at the emergency services training ground out at the Port of Brisbane - some of the best training I have ever done. Gives you a whole new respect for fire fighters and really punches home just how badly you do not want a fire at sea.

[fishtragic]

The fact that the crew were too emotional to comment to the media shows how traumatic an event like this can be. Sounds like they handled their safety and evac. procedures well. A credit to all involved. It never ceases to amaze me how complacent people can get without regular drills or at least re-familiarising ourselves on the use of safety gear and procedures. I had to assist a supervisor in our company to put on a lifejacket in a pool course a few weeks ago. When things go pear shaped at sea the situation can become critical pretty damn quick, with no time for trying to figure out where PFD straps go or where safety gear is stowed, so, even though we all probably know our own vessels pretty well it may be a good reminder to have a personal drill with your crews or at least pull all the sea survival gear out, check and re-stow it. I will be. Probably be a NTM put out about this, the location shouldn't be a problem. Be a good dive site in twelve months or so if they leave the hull there.

[Lovey80]

It has gone down to the best of our knowledge. There is an effort now to locate it before the 1000lts of fuel still on board doesn't case a spill on the reef.

Glad everyone got out ok. 1000l of fuel wouldn't do too much damage would it? I can't imagine getting a diver down there to open the tanks and let it rise to the surface would be too much of a problem? I would be surprised that the fuel tanks weren't breached in the fire. If it got hot enough to burn holes in a commercial ally vessel surely the fuel tanks got set off?

[Lucky_Phill]

https://publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/1e532f18-e36a-4fc6-b5d7-9a5b9bf0f272/resource/45128f18-b0e5-4e09-bce6-370063ce7cc4/download/269-t-foul-ground.pdf

all info here


LP

[ozynorts]

And there is a bit of proof here.
http://www.news-mail.com.au/news/spirit-1770-diving-team-discovers-wreck-video/3035032/

[Triple]

http://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/news/spirit-1770-diving-team-discovers-wreck-video/3035032/