Cruise ship rescues divers, boat lost - Wilsons Promontory National Park, Australia

[DandyDon]

Divers saved by cruise ship at Wilsons Prom after boat trouble​

A man and woman whose boat ran out of fuel have spent a night on-board a luxury cruise ship after a dramatic late-night rescue.
The two passengers, a 58-year-old man from Indented Head and a 29-year-old woman from Newport, were both chartered divers.

Their 8.5m twin hull outboard ran into trouble off Wilsons Promontory/Yiruk and Wamoon in the Victorian National Park after its engines failed amid “strong conditions”.

Forced to abandon their boat, the pair got into a dinghy and deployed an emergency beacon just off Skull Rock at about 10pm on Monday.

Police Air Wing was able to locate the duo at around midnight, alerting the joint rescue co-ordination centre (JRCC), which was able to contact a nearby cruise ship.

Police Air Wing Inspector Kelly Walker said strong conditions led the duo to “expend a lot of extra fuel that they didn’t anticipate to utilise”.

The divers had left from Queenscliff at about 10am and travelled around 135km to Port Albert.

“One of their engines failed and started to take on water,” Inspector Walker said.

After the second engine failed the pair activated their EPRB, alerting the JRCC in Canberra.

When an EPRB is activated the JRCC looks to find the closest asset able to assist, and although uncommon, it was in this case a cruise ship travelling through Bass Strait.

“We attended at night and it was very strong conditions, so it was safer for us that we had a rescue vessel coming from the cruise ship,” Inspector Walker said.

The cruise ship was “willing and able to assist”, deploying a rescue craft.

While one of the passengers briefly fell overboard during the transition, they were both uninjured and were taken to enjoy the hospitality and medical attention on-board the ship.

“They were given a cabin for the night … which really helped them in their recovery, and they were very grateful,” Inspector Walker said.

“They met the captain and expressed their gratitude – I think the hospitality was very welcoming.”

The cruise ship has since docked and the pair are both recovering at home, while their boat will be a “commercial salvage”.

 

[Hojo in SC]

Nice outcome.

 

[happy-diver]

Aussie couple saved by 'luxurious' cruise ship after abandoning boat

'Luckily for them there was a luxurious cruise ship close by,' Water Police Squad inspector James Dalton said.

au.news.yahoo.com

"It is rare, but we certainly do use other vessels when they're closer," Insp Dalton said.
He said the pair was lucky and police would be talking to the captain and deckhand
when they returned to Melbourne on the cruise ship on Tuesday morning."

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, in a week, ha ha ha ha ha!


It was gorgeous out there on Monday and then mid afternoon it quickly turned to crap

 

[clownfishsydney]

What is a "chartered diver"? Unusual for an 8.5 m boat to have a "dinghy". Travelled 135 km! More to this than meets the eye I think or just very poor reporting.

Did some searching, another report says they ran out of fuel and another one says they were going to Port Albert. Where they ran out of fuel is over 80 km short of where they were going. Not related to diving at all it seems, apart from the possibility it was a dive charter boat being moved from one location to another.

 

[Russjstewart]

@DandyDon link is from news.com.au I will leave it at that. From the video the dinghy looks to be similar to the 2:5 metres ones that Whitworths sell for people to go ashore on when anchored somewhere calm and sheltered. At one point in the video you can see the transom but no motor

 

[Belzelbub]

What is a "chartered diver"? Unusual for an 8.5 m boat to have a "dinghy". Travelled 135 km! More to this than meets the eye I think or just very poor reporting.

I was wondering that as well. First thought it might be Aussie for certified diver, but as you had the same question, I guess not. Most likely poor reporting.

Did some searching, another report says they ran out of fuel and another one says they were going to Port Albert. Where they ran out of fuel is over 80 km short of where they were going. Not related to diving at all it seems, apart from the possibility it was a dive charter boat being moved from one location to another.

Yep. Doesn't appear related to diving, though it does sound like they violated a boating rule that is also used in diving. Rule of Thirds in boating applies to fuel. A twin engine cat-hull will often have two fuel tanks, so one engine dying first is not entirely unusual.

 

[DandyDon]

Unusual for an 8.5 m boat to have a "dinghy".

Yeah, I wondered about that, like where would a dinghy ride on a 28-foot boat?

Travelled 135 km!

But then, if I were going to ride a little boat thru 84 miles of ocean, I'd like to drag a bailout dinghy just in case. But I am a high plains boy who knows little about such things. I once boarded a small boat to ride 30-odd miles from Roatan to Utila, asked where the life vests were, was told they didn't carry any, and promptly grabbed a couple from my usual dive boat - and that experience got worse quickly. Nowadays I won't board anything smaller than a ferry without wearing a snorkel vest at least when I do.

 

[astr0b0y]

apart from the possibility it was a dive charter boat being moved from one location to another.

It was this. That dive charter is my local one, glad to hear both captain and deckhand are ok.

 

[DandyDon]

the possibility it was a dive charter boat being moved from one location to another.

And now sunken.

 

[Russjstewart]

It was this. That dive charter is my local one, glad to hear both captain and deckhand are ok.

Are you able tell us which boat please?