Post by ferryfast admin on Mar 26, 2008 12:40:47 GMT -5
Launch 'at fault' in fatal ferry crash
by Ean Higgins
The Australian
www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23437805-5006784,00.html
March 27, 2008
A PLEASURE craft crew's failure to turn on navigation lights and keep a good lookout led to their boat being sliced in two by a Sydney harbour ferry and the loss of four lives, a report has found.
The report, tabled yesterday by NSW Transport Minister John Watkins, also raises questions about the speed at which the ferry was travelling and describes many marine regulations as inadequate or poorly understood.
The families of some of the victims described the report by the Office of Transport Safety Investigations as a whitewash to get the state-run ferry service "off the hook". They demanded a full coronial inquest.
The OTSI report comes nearly a year to the day after the accident devastated a close-knit community of top ice-skaters and amid political turmoil over the run-down and accident-prone ferry service.
At about 10.50pm on March 28, Harbourcat Pam Burridge, travelling at more than 20 knots, ploughed into the private motor launch Merinda.
The Merinda, part-owned and skippered by Peter Lynch, was on an evening dinner cruise with a dozen local and international ice-skating figures.
Among those killed were world championship skating judge Simone Moore, NSW Ice Skating Association president Alan Blinn and rising 14-year-old skating star Morgan Innes.
The OTSI investigation found "human error, vessel visibility, and environmental conditions ... ultimately combined at one fatal culminating point to bring about this tragic accident".
The collision took place close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, an area notorious for poor visibility at night. Although the Merinda had two of its three main saloon lights on, the OTSI report found there was "no illumination from its mast or side navigation lights".
"A vessel of Merinda's type not exibiting the required configuration of navigation lights would have been extremely difficult to detect from vessels coming out of Sydney Cove, irrespective of the state of its cabin lighting," the report said.
Although the decision by the master of the Pam Burridge to travel at 22 knots "reflected a limited appreciation of what constituted a 'safe speed' in the area of the Harbour Bridge", the speed of itself did not cause the collision, OTSI found. Nor did the fact the ferry's course did not fully comply with regulations.
Moore's sister Tenley Brudenell-Woods yesterday defended the actions of Mr Lynch, with whom the family remains close. She said the boat was blazing with cabin lights that should have been clearly visible to the ferry skipper.
The NSW Coroner's office, which will convene a directions hearing tomorrow, has yet to decide on holding an inquest.
by Ean Higgins
The Australian
www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23437805-5006784,00.html
March 27, 2008
A PLEASURE craft crew's failure to turn on navigation lights and keep a good lookout led to their boat being sliced in two by a Sydney harbour ferry and the loss of four lives, a report has found.
The report, tabled yesterday by NSW Transport Minister John Watkins, also raises questions about the speed at which the ferry was travelling and describes many marine regulations as inadequate or poorly understood.
The families of some of the victims described the report by the Office of Transport Safety Investigations as a whitewash to get the state-run ferry service "off the hook". They demanded a full coronial inquest.
The OTSI report comes nearly a year to the day after the accident devastated a close-knit community of top ice-skaters and amid political turmoil over the run-down and accident-prone ferry service.
At about 10.50pm on March 28, Harbourcat Pam Burridge, travelling at more than 20 knots, ploughed into the private motor launch Merinda.
The Merinda, part-owned and skippered by Peter Lynch, was on an evening dinner cruise with a dozen local and international ice-skating figures.
Among those killed were world championship skating judge Simone Moore, NSW Ice Skating Association president Alan Blinn and rising 14-year-old skating star Morgan Innes.
The OTSI investigation found "human error, vessel visibility, and environmental conditions ... ultimately combined at one fatal culminating point to bring about this tragic accident".
The collision took place close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, an area notorious for poor visibility at night. Although the Merinda had two of its three main saloon lights on, the OTSI report found there was "no illumination from its mast or side navigation lights".
"A vessel of Merinda's type not exibiting the required configuration of navigation lights would have been extremely difficult to detect from vessels coming out of Sydney Cove, irrespective of the state of its cabin lighting," the report said.
Although the decision by the master of the Pam Burridge to travel at 22 knots "reflected a limited appreciation of what constituted a 'safe speed' in the area of the Harbour Bridge", the speed of itself did not cause the collision, OTSI found. Nor did the fact the ferry's course did not fully comply with regulations.
Moore's sister Tenley Brudenell-Woods yesterday defended the actions of Mr Lynch, with whom the family remains close. She said the boat was blazing with cabin lights that should have been clearly visible to the ferry skipper.
The NSW Coroner's office, which will convene a directions hearing tomorrow, has yet to decide on holding an inquest.