The crew of a stranded bulk carrier off the Royal National Park coast in NSW will remain on the ship, confident the engine can be repaired.
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The 21 crew members of the Portland Bay were left stranded when the engine failed after leaving Port Kembla in Wollongong this morning.
They failure came amid what NSW Port Authority incident controller John Finch said described as "atrocious conditions" on the water.
"The ship... deployed its anchors and came to a rest about one nautical mile off the rocks," Mr Finch said.
"She did continue to drift slightly towards it, but stabilised about .8 of a nautical mile [off the coast]."
The ship remains sitting off Eagle Rock.
The first tug to reach the ship helped pull its bow to face out to sea.
In total three tugs have been sent out to the vessel and these will secure towing equipment to the ship, before retrieving the anchors and beginning the process of towing it back out to deep water.
Mr Finch said he hoped to have the ship towed back out to sea, 12 miles out from the coast, on Monday night.
"The conditions make the towage operation quite difficult. In eight metre swell the vessel is going to be rising and falling and rolling," he said.
"That's going to put a lot of stress on the equipment and the tug lines."
There were plans to airlift eight non-essential crew members off the ship, but a NSW Police spokesperson said on Monday morning that the Australian Maritime Safety Authority had advised it was unsafe to do so and the mission was delayed.
The plan has since changed.
"There was an initial plan this morning to evacuate the non-essential staff, but once the vessel deployed its anchors and it was in a stable position, it was no longer drifting towards the rocks, the master asked to keep his crew on-board because at this point in time, they're confident that they can actually make an engine repair once they're out in safe, deep water," Mr Finch said on Monday afternoon.
He said the crew was confident they had determined what the problem was, and they had the parts and expertise on board to fix it.
Mr Finch said they believed the bearings in the main engine turbo blower had failed but it would be a "relatively straightforward" repair job.
However, until the engine was repaired he said salvage assets would not be released.
Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopters found the stricken boat after a being advised by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. They carried out some test winches but due to high winds, large seas and the type of ship it was deemed to risky.
The rescue crew shared their attempts on video and on Facebook.
Earlier in the day Premier Dominic Perrottet described it as a "very precarious" situation.
"Our thoughts are with those on board, but the NSW government is continuing to work with Commonwealth agencies to ensure that that situation is rectified as quickly as possible and ensuring that all 21 crew on board are lifted to safety as soon as possible," Mr Perrottet said.
Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs, court, education and health. Our Watch award winner. If you have a story, let me know. Email me at natalie.croxon@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
