Pictures By Liam Driver, Mathew Beer & Brett McKay
Article By Mark Schliebs, Felicity Hetherington and Linda Popic
June 08, 2007 01:24pm Article from: 
EMERGENCY crews have successfully airlifted 22 people from a coal ship that ran aground off Newcastle, New South Wales, in a dramatic rescue described as being "10 out of 10" for difficulty today.
Westpac Rescue Helicopter chief Graham Nickison said that in his 55 years' experience he had never seen conditions as bad as those experienced by rescuers this morning.
NSW Ambulance Service Assistant Operations Manager Jodie Adams said that the crew members were being assessed for hypothermia after finally being brought ashore early this afternoon.
The Panama-registered ship, which has no cargo on board, struck a sandbank near Nobbys Head about 10am (AEST).
Lifeguard Susan Denholme said the Westpac helicopter airlifted the crew off and took them to a nearby clubhouse, where a makeshift customs and first aid post was set up.
A small number were taken to John Hunter Hospital as a precautionary measure, police said.
Ms Denholme said the men had been lifted four at a time from the ship by the helicopter and lifeguards were on standby on jetskis in case a crew member fell into the water.
“They’re all shaken (by the beaching),” she said of the crew.
Newcastle Police spokesman Tony Tamplin said huge seas had delayed rescue efforts.
"The sea is very rough, waves are crashing over the boat," he said.
Pollution threat
The Pasha Bulker, a large coal ship with a capacity of more than 40,000 tonnes and a Filipino crew, broke its moorings in heavy seas this morning.
The Newcastle Coastal Patrol said the ship's fuel tanks were not believed to be damaged and a spokeswoman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said there were no reports of any pollution from the vessel.
NSW Maritime chief executive Chris Oxenbould said the bulk carrier was understood to be carrying 700 tonnes of fuel oil, 38 tonnes of diesel and 40 tonnes of lube oil.
"The priority is the saving of lives and the focus is on the crew," he said.
"A response is being co-ordinated and contingencies for pollution are being put in place."
A worker at a nearby motel told NEWS.com.au traffic was close to gridlocked near the beach as locals rushed to watch the rescue effort.
Emergency response
Senior Constable Tamplin said tugboats had earlier been organised to
try to pull the ship from the beach, but were turned back because of
the treacherous conditions.
“They weren’t allowed out of the harbour because it was too dangerous,” he said.
“There’s no (recovery effort) now, we’re just waiting for conditions to improve.”
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jane Golding said conditions in the Newcastle area were expected to worsen today.
Stormy conditions
“Winds at the moment are gusting up to 100km/h, with a mean wind speed of 78km/h. We expect those to continue during the day.”
She said strong winds were whipping up waves of up to 5m, with an additional 2m swell.
The swell is forecast to increase to up to three and a half metres during the day, and more heavy rain is also expected.
“The
heaviest rain is starting to move down there at the moment, and we
don’t expect it to ease until tonight. Since 9am, we’ve had around 20mm
of rain in the area.”
The ship had been due to enter port on June 12 to load up with 58,000 tonnes of coal, destined for Japan.
With AAP
Great coverage! I'll add a link on my blog:
http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/
Posted by: John | June 08, 2007 at 02:49 PM