Dodgy boats

[maxi]

Hey Guys,

Does anyone know who built those boats that sank off Cairns. :o >:(

[Barraholic]

Here's what the Courier Mail reported:

http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/story/0,20797,19191093-3102,00.html

Five had no chance
Scott Murdoch

May 20, 2006

THE sinking of an Immigration Department boat which resulted in the deaths of five people was a disaster waiting to happen, a report has concluded.

The skipper had partied the night before and his fears over the vessel's safety were dismissed by his boss, it found.

The department was lambasted in a report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau which investigated the sinking of the Malu Sara in October last year.

The 6m boat, used to patrol Torres Strait waters, was found to be unseaworthy despite being only six weeks old.

The boat was carrying two immigration workers, Wilfred Baira, 35, and Ted Harry, 50, when it went missing.

The two men were travelling between islands after an Immigration workshop, with Valorie Faub, Flora Enosa and her daughter, Esena, 4.

The report criticised Immigration for not providing the correct safety equipment.

ATSB investigator Peter Foley said the boat did not have the correct buoyancy which should have ensured it "righted" itself.

The builder, Subsee Explorer in Cairns, could face negligence charges and refused to comment yesterday.

The outcome is another embarrassment for Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone, who launched the boats on Thursday Island with fanfare last year.

Senator Vanstone refused to answer questions on the scathing report.

The boat has never been found and only the body of Ms Enosa was recovered.

The report found:

• The boat was not seaworthy.

• Did not have a sea anchor or the right drainage systems.

• The satellite/CDMA phone system was not effective.

• The boat did not have the right balance mechanisms.

• Did not have personal navigation systems.

It said the skipper had been seen at a party until 3.30am and he did not know how to use the satellite phone properly, change the boat's oil and was not carrying a map.

But he did tell his boss he was concerned the boat was unsafe.

"The gist of the conversation was the skipper telling the regional manager that neither he nor his crew member felt confident to take Malu Sara back to Badu Island," the findings said.

"He apparently asked the regional manager whether the two men could . . . ship the boat back to Badu Island on a barge. The regional manager is said to have declined permission and apparently indicated that the department could not cover the additional cost."

[megafish71]

The builder was Subsee. http://www.subsee.com.au/
Local Cairns boat builder
If it wasn't such a disaster the business name seems to be fitting.

Ron

[seatime]

G'day

just downloaded and read the atsb incident report on the Malu Sara.
wow, what a terrible tragedy. now, at least the Torres Strait islanders will have seaworthy boats and get proper training for the crews.

stay away from cheap and nasty builders. pay peanuts and u get monkeys.
very interesting read about build quality and compliance controls.

http://www.atsb.gov.au

[seatime]

http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2005/MAIR/mair222.aspx

There is some very good observations and findings in this investigation.

Lessons for everyone on, VHF vs Satellite/mobile phones, and EPIRBs, 121.5 vs 406mhz, passage planing, situational awareness and engine maintenance.

These poor people were really let down by IMMIA. The 'organisational' and 'regulatory oversights' will be cold comfort for the families of those lost.
How could they have got it so wrong with the survey requirements. It's mindboggling why these boats are so flawed, surely the director of SubSee knew what he wasn't doing. Probably thought he'd get one over the gov't for a change.

They should allow the TS Islanders to apply some tribal justice and let them have their way with the director.

[fishscale]

how may orther boats are out there which are the same as these ones hope any one who has any of these boats get them looked at thanks ash....... >:( :-[ :-[ :-[

[Camo]

I'd love to get Col from Fisher boats to give us his opinion of the design and construction of those boats as outlined in the report, since he designs and builds plate boats around the same size. Surly in the conditions experienced up there a larger cuddy cab or centre cab would have been more appropriate. They probably would have even been better off with a larger newer version of the Bermuda/Quintrex centre consols they were using previously, even with the Quintrex quality control problems of late.

I bet those Subsea boats weren't cheap either. I can't believe they were running 2 stroke carby Mercs, instead of the newer more reliable direct injection 2 strokes or four strokes. And to top it all off they didn't carry any charts or even a GPS or chart plotter for navigation. It had a manual bilge pump and probably wouldn't have passed an inspection by water police if it hadn't been a government boat. I'ts just an example of Government penny pinching, but now they'll be paying plenty in compensation.

Camo

[Burley_Boy]

Just read all that, that sux bigtime, what a sad combination of events.

A boat that doesn't have positive floatation and takes on water with a negative freeboard.
Skipper really went out on a limb though. Launches a boat for a 100km+ trip heavily loaded in crap seas and crap viz, in a boat he is suss about.
He was obviously relying on his local knowledge so didn't bring a chart nor did he know his phone could give him GPS co-ordinates so that combined with a boat that doesn't float really leads to tradgedy.


Really sad stuff.

[youngfisho]

i remember hearing about this in the news and thought to myself, how can a 6m immigration boat sink in 15 to 20knot seas. after all the boat should be survey 2c or better. well how wrong was i. thats amazing that these people have been given the short straw with their boats. it kinda makes you wonder about all those boats that are marketed self draining decks, do they really work???? and does the underhull deadspace actually stay dry???? maybe there should be mandatory tests for all boats that are either self draining or built to a survey standard but not destined for commercial use.

my next boat will be self draining and have positive flotation, i think ill get it swamp tested before i buy it to ensure that it doesnt sink and go arse up in the event i get caught in bad weather.



andrew