A photographer hiked through the national park to capture exclusive pictures of the Portland Bay being tugged away from cliffs near Garie Beach, in southern Sydney.
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Mark Sundin, from Sylvania, southern Sydney, and owner of Expedition Kayaks, said it took half an hour to walk down to Eagle Rock where he shivered through torrential rain to photograph the bulk carrier.
The 21 crew members of the Portland Bay were left stranded when the engine failed after leaving Port Kembla, in NSW's Illawarra region.
The bulk carrier will now be taken into Port Botany in Sydney's south-east when the weather eases after efforts to tow it further out to sea failed overnight.
The initial engine 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 0.8 of a nautical mile [off the coast]."
Adventurer Mark walked down to popular viewing spot Eagle Rock where he was able to watch the rescue operation in action.
"I was sitting shivering on the cliff at Eagle Rock. It was a hell of a walk today. I was there for a couple of hours. I was a bit horrified as it seemed to be getting closer to the cliffs, but the tugs were brilliant," Mark said.
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The first tug to reach the ship helped pull its bow to face out to sea.
The crew of the bulk carrier have remained on the ship, confident the engine can be repaired. It is currently being moved by three tugs towards Botany Bay.
