The “flexible plan” line was really wearing thin. The questioning was pointed. The sculpture titled "Grounded" marks the anniversary of the grounding of the Pasha Bulker in 2007. The salvage team knew she would, in all likelihood, only hold up for so long. And if only those tapes had been working . A comical moment unfolded when Gary Webb, Minister Tripodi, their staff and I trod down the headland track for the nightly media briefing. But the biggest difference between the two reports lies in their treatment of what happened after the Pasha Bulker lifted its anchor, at about 6.30am. Put simply, the Pasha Bulker had been stabilised by ballast water (ocean water) pumped into the hull and ocean anchors secured to long cables. My unequivocal view was to go with what we knew, as scant and vague as the information was. This suited given that the salvage team was so busy behind the scenes. We can just smell oil. If there’s a lasting legacy of the Pasha Bulker, it’s that it led to the creation of a new coal ship queuing system, where instead of the 57 ships that were anchored close into the coast back in 2007, waiting vessels now drift far out to sea, either east of Newcastle or up near New Guinea, as they wait their turn to load. Yanking at the vessel prematurely might result in on-board fuel oil spewing into the water and the vessel being torn apart. It says: “Even with the resources available to NPC, including the collective local knowledge of the harbour master and pilots and the weather monitoring equipment at VTIC, the port corporation was not sufficiently responsive to the increasing seriousness of the situation that developed from the evening of June 7.” “By the early hours of June 8, a dangerous situation had already developed but it appears not to have been recognised until the corporation’s ‘incident control system’ was activated at about 8.30am. The alteration was poorly controlled and the ship’s heading became south-westerly instead of south-southeast as he had intended. The Newcastle and Hunter Region will never forget the weekend when storms and floods closed down the heart of Newcastle, the Pasha Bulker went aground on Nobbys Beach and the levee system around Maitland was pushed to its limit. The exception covered a crucial area. Get ready for a media onslaught if you’re chosen to handle the salvage response, I said. The federal report again: “The communication by VTIC at 9.10am asking for Santa Isabel to leave the restricted area and two minutes later for Pasha Bulker to also do so probably had some influence on the subsequent decisions of their masters, even though it could not be ascertained exactly what action they took and when they took it. These before and after satellite photos show the big build up of sand on the beach to the south of the Pasha Bulker and show the rock reef bottom. Although the full submission by the port corporation to the federal investigators was not released publicly, two excerpts included in the report quote the port corporation as saying it “does not accept” that its communications that day “would create any confusion” or have “adversely influenced the decisions of” any of any (ship’s) masters”. The roads were blocked as people jostled towards the beach for a look. Still, the media devoured the fresh daytime imagery of the vessel now aimed at the ocean after three weeks.   The Pasha Bulker was held 11 nautical miles off shore so assessments could be undertaken. This was important because she’d suffer further damage if she grinded against her rocky landing area. *** ONE of the largest industrial helicopters in Australia was secured to transport salvage equipment onto the Pasha Bulker. Your ad blocker may be preventing you from And if only those tapes had been working . “A memento to say thanks for the professionalism.” That unsightly piece of the Pasha Bulker’s rudder sits on my desk as I write this, 10 years later. Matthew Watson is a former communications consultant for Svitzer Salvage. (For the record, the Pasha Bulker’s owners also rejected the federal report and its findings as not “valid”, although the investigators say the owners did not provide any “evidence or argument” in support.) Shannon basically said we can’t promise a good outcome, but we’ve got the best people and the best possible plan in play. . There was clapping, cheering and hugging. “Can you see the ship?” Harvey asked as I got closer to Nobbys Beach. In another section, the federal report notes that just after 9am, the Pasha Bulker “helmsman brought the ship back to a heading of 140º and the wind was ahead”. The Pasha Bulker, now in the hands of less experienced crew, was shunted north along the coast toward Port Stephens, unable to make much headway against the waves. That was the only mention of the “restricted zone” in the state report, and it was not until the federal report was issued five months later that its importance became clear. Thankfully both were already doing a solid job briefing the media on location. Hard to tell.    *** ONE of the most common questions was “how do you stop the vessel washing further onto the beach (or sliding uncontrolled off the beach) with tidal movements?” Put simply, the Pasha Bulker had been stabilised by ballast water (ocean water) pumped into the hull and ocean anchors secured to long cables. More salvage folks arrived from interstate and overseas – some 30 all up. With one exception, the state report gives NPC a clean bill of health, saying it “responded to the emergency in a very competent manner, exercising appropriate control and integrating with the other emergency services involved”. “It’s like eating an elephant,” one quipped during a private moment. With one exception, the state report gives NPC a clean bill of health, saying it “responded to the emergency in a very competent manner, exercising appropriate control and integrating with the other emergency services involved”. He said VTIC may have told the Pasha Bulker about the restricted area but it was "absolutely not" responsible for the way the master lost control. Their only shield from the wind and the 18-metre white tongues of water, Mr Donaldson said, was the mass of the Pasha Bulker. “The tugboats were just getting engulfed. Yanking at the vessel prematurely might result in on-board fuel oil spewing into the water and the vessel being torn apart. Thankfully she was empty and not full of coal. ... Pasha Bulker (Where Did I Go Wrong?) You didn’t just press a few buttons in such situations and see the beached ship off. It was a weird feeling not having the big interloping lady there after three weeks and three days. Oh, and it wouldn’t be a good look if the salvors got her off the beach but lost control of her, resulting in her wrecking in or closer to the channel. ‘Well…. Eleven o’clock departure time was an hour ago, yet Newcastle Harbour lay wide, flat, blue… and empty. Things had to be explained factually and clearly. A block-and-tackle network criss-crossing the bow would significantly enhance the pulling power of each tug. Her infamous name was dropped, and she now moves around global waters as the Drake. I looked through the windscreen at the foamy puffs of water lashing high over the deck. Everyone wanted a chat. It found that “verbal communications provided by NPC at the time of the incident were adequate within the existing framework”. Things had to be explained factually and clearly. No, you couldn’t knee jerk into a re-float attempt. MV Drake, previously known as Pasha Bulker, is a Panamax bulk carrier of 76,741 tonnes deadweight (DWT) operated by the Lauritzen Bulkers shipping company and owned by Japanese Disponent Owners. I sensed it was a tipping point, a moment where they’d attack. Pasha Bulker anchored 2.4 miles 2 off the coast near Newcastle and joined the queue of 57 ships in the anchorage. The ship’s rudder however was jammed in the rocks off the beach, meaning the re-float was only a 99 per cent success. There were many variables that had to be worked around – night and day, tidal and current movements, wind, rain and inevitable equipment malfunctions. After the grounding, investigators went to get the recordings that are automatically made of all communications between VTIC and the various vessels, only to find “the associated recording equipment was, however, not working [on the day of the grounding] and had not been operating since June 5”.   The mantra was that a “flexible plan” was in play. Everyone seemed to have an opinion, the latest word on what would or wouldn’t happen. “It’s doable, but it takes time.”. The underside damage might be an issue: the hull had grinded over sand and rock and water was leaking in from the starboard side. I’d handle media enquiries on behalf of Svitzer. If only ships could talk. All of Pasha Bulker ’s cargo holds were empty in readiness to load a cargo of coal, scheduled to take place in three weeks. It was refloated and moved to a safe location offshore on 2 July 2007 at 9:48 p.m. AEST before being towed to Japanfor maj… The vessel was patched up and eventually exited with no fanfare. The MV Pasha Bulker is a 76,741 tonne deadweight Panamax bulk carrier operated by the Lauritzen Bulkers Shipping company. Both make fairly similar appraisals of how the Pasha Bulker got into trouble but they differ substantially in their appraisal of the role of Newcastle Port Corporation (NPC) and of its maritime communications arm, the Newcastle Vessel Traffic Information Centre (VTIC). 1. THE wrinkling on the port-side of the hull gave away that the vessel was straining from the constant push of waves. The federal report found that three vessels, Santa Isabel, Sea Confidence and Pasha Bulker, were tracking north when VTIC told them they should not enter the restricted area. Consequently, the masters of those ships that were relying on guidance from VTIC probably did not assess the risks appropriately and eventually were surprised by the severity of the weather.”. “Other masters in the area may at least have been distracted by these communications. I’d handle media enquiries on behalf of Svitzer. The underside damage might be an issue: the hull had grinded over sand and rock and water was leaking in from the starboard side. These were important visuals, to show the media and the community that things were happening. No, you couldn’t knee jerk into a re-float attempt. Shannon was hardly in the mood for small talk as we waited for Gary Webb to arrive. And so Minister Tripodi and Gary Webb stood before the camera lights piercing the night and calmly said, well, there might be some… oil in the water. As the federal report notes, the purpose of “restricted area” (its formal name, rather than “zone”) is to “keep the [harbour] entrance clear for ships entering or leaving port”. A block-and-tackle network criss-crossing the bow would significantly enhance the pulling power of each tug. A downside was that Shannon, now a public face of the salvage effort, found it that bit harder to venture about. 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