No Ship at Avoca

Controversial HMAS Adelaide scuttling leaves a long wake.

A FORMER Navy frigate controversially sunk off Avoca Beach in 2011 has started breaking up as predicted by environment and community groups, with a large wall section that sheared away during storms in 2015 listed as “location unknown”.

Documents obtained under freedom of information show the HMAS Adelaide’s 10 metre by 8 metre starboard hangar wall disappeared during wild storms in May, 2015, leaving one side of the hangar roof “now completely unsupported”.

“I expect that the roof will tear apart without much resistance when the next significant swell hits. Hopefully it will lift off and be deposited on the seabed,” said a consultant’s report to the NSW Department of Primary Industries, that recorded a “loose section of wall” that “will presumably break off in the next big swell”.

In 2016 storms a one metre section of the remaining starboard hangar wall broke free “and is moving backwards and forwards slightly”, while “numerous handrails have been broken off and now lie strewn about the decks”, documents obtained last week by No Ship Action Group spokesperson Michelle Meares show.

The botched sinking of ex-HMAS Tobruk by a government contractor, which left the ship on its side and needing modifications to make it safer, will not be fixed after the risks of damaging it are deemed too high.

It was promised to be a world-class dive spot and major tourist attraction between Bundaberg and Hervey Bay, with the cost estimated about $10 million.

But the ship, which was supposed to sink upright, tipped on its side when was scuttled in late June.

Instead of fixing it, the State Government has decided to spend $1 million on marketing campaign to promote it.

Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch said the cost of fixing the ship’s orientation could have been as high as $20 million.

“The cost of righting the ship is actually secondary to the risks that the experts said righting the ship would pose, there’s a huge variation between $6 and $20 million, which is an indication of how there is a lot of unknowns in all of this,” she said.

A federal offer to turn an ex-navy warship into a dive site off the east coast of Tasmania has been scuttled by the state’s government.

The plan to sink HMAS Darwin at Skeleton Bay was not financially feasible or in the best interests of the state, State Growth Minister Peter Gutwein said on Friday.

An initial cost of $12 million to the state plus ongoing maintenance of $600,000 per year could be better invested in Tasmania’s health and education systems, he added.

Not all Tasmanian residents are pleased with the federal government’s gift of the HMAS Darwin to Tasmania.

The former navy vessel will likely become a dive wreck off the East Coast following assessments undertaken by the state government.

However, North East Bioregional Network president Todd Dudley said the ship should instead be recycled for scrap metal.

“As we have said for many years, Skeleton Bay is a beautiful pristine body of water that deserves protection from inappropriate development,” he said.

“There are already a large number of tourists visiting the Bay of Fires area including Skeleton Bay to enjoy its relatively undeveloped natural beauty. As such we don’t need artificial fake tourism attractions.”

Mr Dudley said the scuttling of the ship would cost in excess of $6 million.

“This is an outrageous waste of money that could be better spent on maintaining and restoring the natural environment of Tasmania.

“It is no longer acceptable to use the ocean as a dumping ground for redundant navy ships or other waste.  Such actions demonstrate a lack of respect for the marine environment.”

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said though it was great that the HMAS Darwin had been offered to the state, there were other projects that should take priority over the scuttling of a ship.

“The state government shouldn’t be expected to write a blank cheque and pay for the cost of submerging it and cleaning it up,” he said.

“I understand the concerns some may have about the brand of Binalong Bay and the pristine nature of it, and that’s got to be front and centre. That drives more visitation and tourism to the East Coast of the state more than anything.”

Dive operators say the scuttling of a former navy ship off Queensland is a “stuff-up” after it came to rest on its side.

The state government paid a contractor to sink ex-HMAS Tobruk late last month, promising it would provide a world-class dive site for tourists.

But the ship listed as valves flooded it, and the vessel rolled as it was going down in the Great Sandy marine park, between Bundaberg and Hervey Bay.

The owner of Lady Musgrave Experience, Brett Lakey, said the landing was not what had been promised to operators who have dive permits for the site.

The ship’s position could limit access to more experienced divers, he said.

“I know [Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service] are … working with every option to see whether they will right it or leave it on its side,” Lakey told the Courier-Mail.

“The perception has been that it’s been a bit of a stuff-up. It certainly limits and restricts any penetrations. If we don’t think it could work we could hand back permits.”

The opposition says the scuttling was a devastating failure and wants answers.

“Has the contractor been paid by the government, and what’s the cost to rectify the bungle?” asked Stephen Bennett, a Liberal National party member who holds the seat of Burnnett near the wreck site.

But the environment minister, Leeanne Enoch, has downplayed the outcome.

“The Queensland government is currently working with the contractor and dive operators to assess the safety of the wreck and to scope dive experience opportunities,” she said.

She said dive operators had advised that in its current position the wreck would still cater to all levels of divers.

The contractor who sank Tobruk is inspecting the wreck and will submit a report to the government.

IT WAS supposed to be a win for the state’s tourist industry, but everyone watching our navy’s biggest ship sink knew something had gone terribly wrong.

Medical experts blame an ex-naval ship for a spike in the number of sick scuba divers in NSW.