Spirit of Tasmania 2 ferry accidents and incidents

30 April 2023Crew / Passenger Deaths

(overboard) On April 30, 2023, a male passenger was reported missing after going overboard.

Shortly after 8 pm (10 am UTC), the ferryboat, being en route from Geelong (Victoria Australia) to Devonport (Tasmania) changed course and turned around to start a search and rescue operation after a headcount was conducted onboard.

The man's body was found and recovered from the waters off Geelong at ~8:50 pm (10:50 UTC).

The passenger's death was treated as not suspicious.

13 January 2017Ship Collision / Allision

On January 13, 2017, at ~6 pm, while berthed in homeport Melbourne (Australia), due to strong winds the ship crashed into Station Pier after breaking its mooring lines.

The cruiseferry (carrying 120 passengers) first drifted away from the dock, being hit by strong winds up to 100 km/h (60 mph). When the vessel was at a 90-degree angle to the berth, its bow collided with the car bridge and pier's ramp.

With tugboat assistance, at ~8 pm the vessel was towed back to the pier and moored again. The accident resulted in bow hull damage. The ship remained 4 days in Port Melbourne for repairs (re-entered service on January 17), causing schedule disruption with cargo delays and stranded passengers. The investigation, conducted by ATSB (Australian Transport Safety Bureau), found that the accident could have been prevented if the commanding officers had been monitoring more carefully the adverse weather conditions.

Note: Actually, this type of marine accident is called “allision” (striking a fixed object) as opposed to “collision” (striking another vessel).

01 November 1999Fire Accident

(MS Superfast III) On November 1, 1999, while en-route from Patras to Ancona, carrying 307 passengers and 106 crew, the cruise ship suffered a garage deck fire accident. The fire broke out in a freezer trailer, being caused by electrical system failure. Vehicle deck's drencher system (fire sprinklers) and the crew managed to extinguish it soon. All passengers and crew were evacuated and transferred to nearby ships.

On November 2, the cruise ferry returned back in Patras (Greece). During the conducted investigation, in a burned truck were discovered 14 dead bodies, later identified as Kurdish refugees. The vessel was drydocked for repairs in Hamburg, Germany (at Blohm+Voss shipyard) between December 3 and March 3 (2000).

During the 71-day drydock were replaced 450 tons of steel, 84 km (51) cables, and around 1200 m2 insulation materials. The tilting ramp (decks 2-3) was replaced with new, public areas were renovated. Drydock repairs and refurbishment works cost USD 26 million.