MV Pasha Bulker

The MV "Pasha Bulker" is a Panamax bulk carrier of DWT|76,741|metric|first=yes operated by the Lauritzen Bulkers Shipping company and owned by Japanese Disponent Owners.Cite web |url=http://www.lauritzenbulkers.com/vsl/ListLong.asp?VesselNo=3677 |title=Pasha Bulker, long list |publisher=Lauritzen Bulkers] While waiting in the open ocean outside the harbour to load coal the "Pasha Bulker" ran aground during a major storm on 8 June 2007 on Nobbys Beach in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It was refloated and moved to a safe location offshore on 2 July 2007 at 9:48 p.m. AEST before being towed to Japan for major repairs on 26 July 2007.In May 2008 it was refloated with a new name, "The Drake", and it had a new funnel and a new coat of paint installed and extensive repairs.

The "Pasha Bulker" was built in 2006 by Sasebo Heavy Industries Co., and sails under the flag of Panama as a flag of convenience. It is convert|225|m|ft|0|abbr=on in length with a beam of convert|32.2|m|ft|1|abbr=on and a cargo hold capacity (grain) of convert|90911|m3|cuft|0|. [Cite web |url=http://www.e-ships.net/index/P3.shtml |title=Ships and Shipping Companies Database |publisher=World Shipping Register] Cite news |title=Ships ignored warning to leave |author=Ben Cubby and Edmund Tadros |publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/ships-ignored-warning-to-leave/2007/06/08/1181089338446.html |date=2007-06-09] .

torm and beaching

Early on the morning of 8 June 2007, Newcastle Port Corporation radioed the 56 moored ships waiting off the coast to load coal to warn them to move out to sea to escape the approaching storm. The "Pasha Bulker", along with 10 other ships, did not heed the warning. As the storm hit, the "Pasha Bulker" could not clear the coast and it became beached at 9:15am. The ship never called for tug boat assistance, ran aground with a fully operational engine room and still had both anchors stored in the hawsepipes leading some maritime experts to believe that proper precautions were not taken by the ship's captain.Cite news |url=http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/environmental-impact-and-salvage-of-mv-pasha-bulker/ |author=Captain John |title=Maritime Experts discuss Environmental Impact and Salvage of M/V Pasha Bulker |publisher=gCaptain.com |date=2007-06-08]

After the "Pasha Bulker" ran aground the 22 Filipino and Korean crew members aboard were successfully rescued by the Westpac Rescue helicopter service from the vessel, however it remained grounded about convert|30|m|ft|abbr=on from the shore at the popular Nobbys Beach. [Cite news |first=David |last=Braithwaite |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/fears-ship-could-break-up/2007/06/08/1181089282623.html |title=Fears Ship Could Break Up |publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=2007-06-08] [Cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21871214-1702,00.html |title=Ships in trouble in wild seas |date=2007-06-08 |first=Michael |last=Perry |publisher=The Australian] The ship was empty of any cargo at the time, awaiting to load 58,000 tonnes of coal from Newcastle Port.Cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/salvage-team-boards-beached-ship/2007/06/09/1181089384735.html |author=AAP |title=Salvage team boards beached ship |publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=2007-06-09] However, it contained around 700 tonnes of fuel oil, 38 tonnes of diesel and 40 tonnes of lube oil, which if released could have caused a major ecological disaster.

During further stormy weather, the ship was pushed onto the beach so that it was parallel to the beach, and both bow and stern were stuck on or in the sand. The whole ship was then completely trapped between the beach and a rocky reef. In the first week the salvage crew loaded the ship with ballast water, which sunk it lower, so that its hull was firmly on or in the seabed.

Its location on a popular beach and close proximity to the Newcastle CBD made the "Pasha Bulker" a popular tourist destination and precipitated a minor economic boom. [Cite news |url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21993271-421,00.html?from=public_rss |title=$4.2m to move Pasha Bulker 5m |author=Clementine Cuneo |publisher=The Daily Telegraph |date=2007-06-30] One radio station promoted a song called "Blame it on the Pasha Bulker", a rewrite of the song, "Blame it on the Bossa Nova" by Louis Calhoun. [Cite web |url=http://www.nxfm.com.au/shows/stevekim/pashasong/pasha.mp3 |title=Blame it on the Pasha Bulker |date=n.d.] The "Pasha Bulker" was even advertised on eBay for a short time, with bids reaching $16,000,000 before eBay closed the auction. [Cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Pasha-Bulker-listed-for-sale-on-eBay/2007/06/19/1182019104813.html |title=Pasha Bulker listed for sale on eBay |date=2007-06-19 |publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald] [Cite web |url= http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:MeNlWPBED0oJ:cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D110140244962+jonno504&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=au&client=firefox-a | title=eBay Australia: PASHA BULKER CONTAINER SHIP Google cache record retrieved on 19 June 2007]

While beached the "Pasha Bulker" was used as a billboard for slogans by Greenpeace on June 27. Lasers beamed messages such as "Coal causes climate change chaos" and "This is what climate change looks like" in red on the side of the ship. Greenpeace stated that the protest was motivated by "scientists tell [ing] us that storm surges of the type that we saw earlier this month are something that we can expect more of as a result of climate change."Cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/28/1964403.htm |title=Greenpeace defends Pasha protest |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |work=News Online |date=2007-06-26]

alvage operation

Planning

Svitzer, a Danish company was awarded the contract to salvage the bulk carrier. [Cite news |url=http://www.svitzer.com/Salvage/News/News?id={8D00D6CD-655C-4D6F-9A02-4622758863E9} |title=SVITZER Salvage engaged in Australia |date=2007-06-09]

On 9 June a salvage team, led by Drew Shannon, boarded the ship to assess the condition of the hull. Salvage investigators confirmed on 11 June that the outer shell of the ship's double hull had been breached and was taking on water on the starboard side.Cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/items/200706/1947593.htm |work=News Online |title=Pasha Bulker hull breached |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=2007-06-11]

It was decided that the refloating attempt would proceed despite concerns that the ship was too badly damaged to be refloated. Any attempt at moving the ship was to occur at high tide, when the ship's own buoyancy would reduce the towing force required and the chance of it breaking into two. [Cite news |url=http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/26/1962507.htm |title=Pasha Bulker refloat postponed |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |work=News Online |date=2007-06-26] [Cite news |url=http://www.news.com.au/sundaytelegraph/story/0,,21950742-5001021,00.html |title=Pasha Bulker's broken back |publisher=Daily Telegraph |date=2007-06-23 |first=Neil |last=Keene] The salvage attempt was not to involve removing any of the fuel or oil off the vessel.

The plan to salvage the "Pasha Bulker" used anchors laid out at sea, which the ship was to use to then winch itself seawards, and three tug boats towing it with the aim of dragging the bow over a rock reef. The carrier would then be pulled seaward in a path between two rocky reefs.Cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/salvage-operation-starts/2007/06/12/1181414299985.html |title=Huge operation starts to salvage ship |publisher=The Age |date=2007-06-13 |first=Greg |last=Wendt] A hydrographic survey was conducted to survey and map the bottom of the ocean through the surf zone using a surf ski single beam echo sounder and GPS. This gave the salvage team more insight into the direction for refloating the ship.Cite news |url=http://abc.net.au/news/australia/nsw/newcastle/200706/s1951703.htm |title=Experts survey water around Pasha Bulker |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |work=News Online |date=2007-06-14]

An emergency response team was to remain on standby should the vessel begin leaking fuel and an exclusion zone was set up around the location of the ship with marker buoys to stop all ships and surfers from entering the area.Cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/22/1958817.htm |title=New exclusion zone as Pasha Bulker efforts continue |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |work=News Online |date=2007-06-22] In addition on 25 June an air exclusion zone was created around the ship. [Cite news |url=http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/25/1961626.htm |title=Pasha Bulker no-fly zone set up |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |work=News Online |date=2007-06-25] Once the ship was free from the beach, the carrier would likely be towed to Brisbane for repairs. [Cite news |title=Pasha Bulker ABC TV News Report 7pm |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=2007-06-29] Various attempts for re-floating the ship were suggested. University of Sydney Honorary Associate Professor Rob Wheen suggested liquefying the sand under the ship by pumping seawater into it. This liquefaction should reduce the friction between grains of sand and in turn, friction between the ship and sand. [Cite web | url=http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1789| title=Salvage of the Pasha Bulker from Nobby's Beach|publisher=The University of Sydney |date=2007-06-26] Whether this would have been effective in this case is unknown as the "Pasha Bulker" was lying on rock as well as sand and the ship would have had to be pulled up and over the rocks.

First attempt

Final preparations to refloat the ship began on 28 June when the ballast water, added earlier to stabilise the vessel, was pumped out to aid buoyancy. At around 5.30pm AEST the tug boats began pulling on the lines attached to the bow on the port side and the ship appeared to move for the first time. [Cite news |url=http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21983924-2702,00.html |title=Salvage of stranded Pasha Bulker begins |publisher=The Australian |date=2007-06-28] An ocean swell up to Convert|4|m|ft|0|abbr=on pounded the ship and caused the bow to move back and forth even when tethered to the tug boats. Soon after the attempt started to shift the ship, one of the cables connecting the ship to the tug boat "Keera" snapped dashing the attempt. [Cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/saving-the-pasha-bulker/2007/06/28/1182624044139.html |title=Saving the Pasha Bulker |publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=2007-06-29 |first=Jordan |last=Baker] This resulted in the decision to make another attempt after the salvage crews could regroup. [Cite news |title=Crews regroup for next Pasha salvage attempt |url=http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/29/1965191.htm |work=News Online |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=2007-06-29]

Salvage efforts on the morning of 29 June were hampered by more cables snapping, this time it was cables attached to the "Supertug" "Pacific Responder" and a sea anchor. Ballast water was reloaded to help preserve the initial gains that were made and the next attempt to move the ship was deferred to the evening of 1 July to allow salvage engineers more time to secure new cables to the tugs and between the winches and sea anchors. [Cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21995228-1702,00.html |title=Coal ship refloat bid scheduled tomorrow |publisher=The Australian |date=2007-06-30] [Cite news |title=Pasha salvage attempt called off |url=http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/29/1965436.htm |work=News Online |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=2007-06-29]

econd attempt

Three salvage tugs managed to rotate the "Pasha Bulker" so that it was now facing deep water and was only a few degrees short of being able to clear the reef. At its new position, the bulker was only Convert|50|m|ft|0|abbr=on from water deep enough to re-float the vessel and get it away. However, two separate oil slicks were detected in the vicinity of the Pasha Bulker, prompting concerns about a potential oil spill. The oil spill ship "Shirley Smith" was despatched to assess the threat of an oil leak while the salvage operations were suspended. It was later determined that liquid was simply lubricating oil expelled from the suspended propeller and snapped rudder and has since washed into the ocean with westerly winds. [Cite news |title=Pasha Bulker '50m away from deep water' |url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22001734-2,00.html |publisher=news.com.au |date=2007-07-02] [Cite news |title=Teams assess Pasha oil leak |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/02/1966987.htm |date=2007-07-02 |work=News Online |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation] [Cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/pasha-swings-round-then-gets-stuck-again-spilling-oil/2007/07/01/1183228964822.html |title=Pasha swings round then gets stuck again, spilling oil |publisher=Sydney Morning Herald |work=News Online |date=2007-07-02]

Third attempt and successful re-flotation

The ship was successfully towed off the reef on the third attempt at approximately 9:37pm AEST on 2 July 2007. By 9:41pm it was Convert|500|m|ft|0|abbr=on offshore. [Cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/pasha-bulker-in-position/2007/07/02/1183228999518.html |title=Pasha Bulker free at last| publisher=Sydney Morning Herald |date=2007-07-02] It was then held convert|11|nmi|km from the Newcastle shoreline and inspected by divers for oil spills and to determine the extent of the hull damage.

Damage assessment and repairs

In addition to large creases that were visible on both sides of the outer hull while the ship was beached, during the operation to remove the ship from the beach propellor and rudder damage became evident. Assessment by divers while the ship was being held offshore determined that one of the ballast tanks was flooded. Minor repairs to the "Pasha Bulker" were conducted in Newcastle harbour before the ship was towed by the Japanese supertug "Kyo Maru" for major repairs in Asia. [Cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/26/1989112.htm |title=Newcastle farewells Pasha Bulker |date=2007-07-26 |work=News Online |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation]

Post re-flotation events

After the ship was refloated, questions as to who would pay for the recovery of the ship were raised. [Cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Tripodi-evading-Pasha-cost-questions/2007/07/03/1183351177486.html |title=Tripodi 'evading' Pasha cost questions |publisher=The Age newspaper|date=2007-07-03] On 4 July 2007 it was announced that the Japanese owners had promised to pay for the total cost of the salvage in accordance with international conventions. The ship was towed into Newcastle harbour where minor repairs were carried out while a decision on where major repairs would be completed was made.Cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/04/1969646.htm |title=Japanese managers vow to pay Pasha Bulker bill |publisher=ABC News Online |date=2007-07-04] [Cite news |url=http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/04/1969433.htm |title=Pasha heading for Newcastle harbour |publisher=ABC News Online |date=2007-07-04] [Cite news |url=http://media.theage.com.au/?sy=age&category=Breaking+News&rid=29590&source=forums.whirlpool.net.au%2Fforum-replies.cfm%3Ft%3D757879%26p%3D-1 |title=Pasha's back:through the front door (video)|publisher=The Age newspaper |date=2007-07-04] Salvage costs of $AUD1.8 million were finally paid in July 2008. [cite news| last =Collyer |first =Sam |coauthors = |title =NSW Government gets its Pasha pay-off
work =Lloyd's List Daily Commercial News | pages = | publisher =Informal Australia Pty Ltd | date =2008-07-02 | url =http://www.lloydslistdcn.com.au/informaoz/LLDCN/news/daily-news/1214918498367/NSW-Government-gets-its-Pasha-pay-off.html | accessdate =2008-08-15 ]

The New South Wales government did not press charges against the master because negligence could not be proved "beyond reasonable doubt". A NSW Maritime report found horrendous weather conditions combined with poor seamanship by the master of the vessel were to blame. At the height of the incident the ship's master had left the bridge to have breakfast. The report said the master failed to realise the impact of the forecast weather in the anchorage even though wind warnings were received as early as June 3. The master also didn't ballast the ship for heavy weather. [cite news |first= Andrew|last= Clenell|authorlink= |coauthors= |title= No charges against Pasha Bulker skipper|url= http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/no-charges-against-pasha-bulker-skipper/2007/12/05/1196812799192.html|work= |publisher= Sydney Morning Herald |date= 5 December 2007|accessdate= 2007-12-05 ]

Departure

The "Pasha Bulker" left the port of Newcastle on 26 July 2007. Four kilometres out to sea the Japanese salvage tug "Koyo Maru" connected lines to the "Pasha Bulker" for it to be towed back to Japan. Metal beams could be seen reinforcing the buckled hull, as these were part of the temporary repair solution affixed at Newcastle. [Cite news |title=Pasha Bulker takes a final bow |publisher=The Newcastle Herald |date=2007-07-27]

Refloating Under a New Name

In May 2008 the vessel was refloated and renamed - 'The Drake'. The ship has also had a black funnel installed, as well it was given a new coat of black paint. There have been extensive repairs carried out to over half of its body.Fact|date=May 2008

Safety Investigation

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau released a report into the grounding, which includes analysis of port capacity controls, bridge audio recordings, radar tracks, ships logs, weather and other ship movements at the time. It identifies several safety issues.

Historic comparison

Nobby's Breakwater was originally built in the first half of the 19th century to protect ships entering Newcastle Harbour. [Cite web | url=http://www.ncc.nsw.gov.au/discover_newcastle/visit_our_libraries/nobbys | title=Newcastle City Council - Nobbys] After the breakwater was completed Nobby's Beach formed against it and over the reefs around Nobby's headland. It is on these reefs where the "Pasha Bulker" came to grief.

However, it is not the first ship to run aground in the area. In 1940 the TSS "Maianbar", a 493 ton steamship, broke its towline while en route to Sydney and drifted ashore near where the "Pasha Bulker" was beached. [Cite web |url=http://oceans1.customer.netspace.net.au/newcastle-main.html | title=Shipwrecks of the Newcastle Region including Oyster Bank and the Hunter River] It was unable to be re-floated and was dismantled on-site. The "Pasha Bulker" beaching has also drawn parallels to the 1974 beaching of the "Sygna" on Stockton beach just north of Newcastle, and the MV "Cherry Venture", which was beached during a storm in 1973 on Teewah Beach near Rainbow Beach in Queensland.

References

External links

Wikinewshasmore
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* [http://www.mastersunsets.com/storm/ Pictures of the June Long Weekend storm (8-6-07)]
* [http://www.cargolaw.com/2007nightmare_pasha.bulk.html Cargo Law site :: 2007 Nightmare - M/V Pasha Bulker]
* [http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/pasha-bulker-photo-slideshow/ Pasha Bulker photo slideshow]
* [http://jamieandrei.wordpress.com/2007/06/28/pasha-bulker-salvage-attempt-nobbys-beach-newcastle/ 1st Attempt news story & vision link]
* [http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=939391 Overlay image of grounded Pasha Bulker for Google Earth]
* [http://waveski.com.au/waves_pressrelease.pdf Surfing the Pasha Bulker]
* [http://waveski.com.au/newspaper.jpgPasha Bulker Surfing newspaper clipping]
* [http://waveski.com.au/zooweekly.jpgZoo News, Surfing the Pasha Bulker]
* [http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2007/MAIR/mair243.aspx ATSB, News Release, Grounding of the Pasha Bulker on Nobbys Beach, Newcastle, NSW on 8 June 2007]
* [http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2007/MAIR/pdf/mair243_001.pdf ATSB, Report]