On 23 May 2007, the Panamanian registered bulk carrier Pasha
Bulker anchored 2.4 miles off the coast near Newcastle, New
South Wales. The ship had sufficient water ballast on board for the
good weather at the time, and was not expected to load its coal
cargo for about three weeks.
At midday on 7 June, Pasha Bulker's master veered more
anchor cable after a gale warning was issued. The weather
deteriorated and shortly after midnight, the wind had reached gale
force.
At 0500 on 8 June, the wind had increased to strong gale force
and the weather was severe. At 0625, Pasha Bulker started
to drag its anchor. The master decided to put to sea and at 0748,
the anchor was aweigh. The ship was now 1.2 miles from the shore
and, with the southeast wind fine on the starboard bow, it made
good a north-easterly course. At 0906, the master altered the
ship's course to starboard to put the wind on the port bow in an
attempt to make good a southerly course on a south-southeasterly
heading. However, its heading became south-westerly and, with the
wind on the port beam, the ship started to rapidly approach the
coast.
At 0931, with Nobbys Beach 0.8 of a mile away, the master
attempted a starboard turn. The manoeuvre did not succeed and at
0946, with grounding imminent, he requested assistance from
authorities ashore. At 0951, Pasha Bulker grounded on
Nobbys Beach and the ship's momentum carried it further onto the
beach. The crew were evacuated by helicopter during the
afternoon.
On 2 July, Pasha Bulker was successfully refloated. The
ship was temporarily repaired in Newcastle and on 26 July, taken in
tow to Vietnam to undergo permanent repairs.
The report identifies a number of safety issues and issues
recommendations or safety advisory notices to address them.
Marine Safety Recommendations
[MR20080009]
[MR20080010]
[MR20080011]
[MR20080012]
[MR20080013]
[MR20080014]
[MR20080015]
[MR20080016]
[MR20080017]
[MR20080018]
[MR20080019]
Safety Advisory Notices
[MS20080015]
[MS20080016]
[MS20080017]
[MS20080018]
Download final report [
PDF: 5.59MB]