Sydney Ferries - Incidents

Incidents

On Wednesday, 28 March 2007, the Sydney Ferries HarbourCat Pam Burridge and a private vessel Merinda collided beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The report of the Office of Transport Safety Investigations findings stated 'the Merinda was not exhibiting the navigation lights it was required to, it did not become visible to the Master of the Pam Burridge until it was too late for him to take effective collision-avoidance action, and ii. because a proper look-out was not maintained on board the Merinda, the approach of the Pam Burridge was either not detected, or was detected in insufficient time for the Helmsman to give way to, or avoid, the ferry. The summary of the Coroner’s Report noted “It was the error made in failing to illuminate the navigation lights that allowed the other causal factors to align to create a cascading causal effect resulting in the collision. The death toll of the accident was four, including a fourteen year-old girl. The passengers on the private vessel were a group from a figure skating seminar at a local rink, who were on a sightseeing cruise of the harbour. Australian champion Sean Carlow was among the survivors of the accident. His mother and coach, former Australian Olympic competitor Liz Cain, had her leg amputated, while one of the dead was a skating judge who had returned from officiating at the 2007 World Figure Skating Championships the previous week. On 3 April 2007, then Premier of New South Wales Morris Iemma appointed Bret Walker, a Senior Counsel, to undertake a special commission of inquiry into Sydney Ferries' operations, following the HarbourCat tragedy.

• Two accidents were recorded in 2007. In January, one man was killed when a Sydney RiverCat collided with a dinghy, he later died in hospital. In March, a Sydney Ferries vessel crashed into a whale-watching ship before hitting Pyrmont Bridge in Darling Harbour.

• On 23 November 2008, at 5:15pm the Lady Northcott ran into the stern of Friendship while the former was berthing behind the latter at Circular Quay. No one was on board the Friendship, and no passengers were injured on the Lady Northcott.

• On 6 April 2009 the Lady Northcott crashed into rocks after it overshot Taronga Zoo wharf. No one was injured in the accident, and it was blamed on driver error.

• On 11 October 2010 at 8:47am the HarbourCat ferry Anne Sergeant ran into the Kirribilli Jeffrey Street Wharf. One passenger was taken to hospital with some other passengers receiving minor injuries.

• On Sunday, 7 November, 2010, at approximately 4.30pm, a speedboat crashed into the Fantasea Spirit (owned and operated by Palm Beach Ferries, operating for Sydney Ferries) 100m from Meadowbank Wharf on the Parramatta River, injuring six people. The Skipper of the speedboat, a 49-year-old Dundas man, was charged with culpably navigating in manner dangerous causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) and operate recreational vessel negligently causing death or GBH.