Newcastle's Bad Weather

[Mano™]

Guys, it's pretty bloody bad down here in Newcastle at the moment.. below is the story about it as well as photos that have been taken..

Ships battling seas off Newcastle coast
Operating in wild conditions, rescue helicopters have winched crew members to safety from a stricken bulk carrier which had run aground off a Newcastle beach.

As the dramatic rescue operation got underway, authorities warned another ship was in distress in huge waves and was expected to run aground off the NSW city.

Maritime authorities were also monitoring other vessels moored off Newcastle, amid reports of waves of up to 17 metres.

On Friday morning, heavy seas pushed the empty 225-metre long coal carrier Pasha Bulker aground 20 metres off the beach at Nobbys Head, just south of the entrance to Newcastle Port.

The grounding raised fears more than 700 tonnes of fuel on the 40,000-tonne ship could spill into the ocean.

In howling winds, rescue helicopters winched 21 Filipino and Korean crew members to safety, one by one, from the deck of the stricken carrier.

Paramedics were earlier airlifted to the ship to help the frightened crew.

NSW Maritime said the Pasha Bulker was carrying 700 tonnes of fuel oil, 38 tonnes of diesel and 40 tonnes of lube oil.

Although its fuel tanks were intact, there were concerns they could be damaged as the wild weather continued to worsen.

A spokeswoman for federal MP De-Anne Kelly, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services, said the Sea Confidence and a second ship Bitis were both predicted to run aground.

Both ships were less than a nautical mile off Stockton Beach, north of Nobbys Beach, she said.

Also in distress off the same beach is the Coral Emerald.

It is about 2.8 nautical miles offshore and its anchor is dragging due to the swell, she said.

NSW Maritime chief executive Chris Oxenbould said a contingency plan for responding to ocean pollution had been put into place following the grounding of the Pasha Bulker.

It included NSW Maritime, Newcastle Port Corporation and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

The NSW Fire Brigade HAZMAT crews were also at the scene.

"The priority is the saving of lives and the focus is on the crew," Mr Oxenbould said.

"A response is being coordinated and contingencies for pollution are being put in place.

"The forecast is for the weather to deteriorate with seas now at 8-10m and winds of around 40 knots."

None of the Pasha Bulker's crew was believed to be injured. They were airlifted to Nobbys Head car park, the NSW Ambulance Service says.

Tugboats will be used in an effort to move the ship into deeper water.

Strong swells and wild winds were blamed for causing the Pasha Bulker to break its offshore moorings. It had been preparing to collect coal from Newcastle Port later this month.

Cate Faehrmann, executive director of the Nature Conservation Council, said an oil spill would be a disaster for the Newcastle region.

"The ship ... is just off Nobbys Beach, one of Newcastle's most important heritage sites," she said.

The International Transport Workers Federation said the crew included 18 Filipinos and two Koreans.

MUA Newcastle Branch secretary Jim Boyle said such incidents were more likely to occur given the delays in accessing Newcastle Port, with close to 60 ships waiting offshore.

"Certainly the odds are increased dramatically when you've got so many ships waiting to get into port. It's a concern that people have had for some time," he told ABC radio.

He also said the MUA was concerned about the standard of ships arriving in Australia.

"These flag of convenience vessels, their ownership and state of the vessel are somewhat disguised," he said.

"A classic example of this is there's a Filipino crew on board this vessel (Pasha Bulker) with Korean officers, and the training and standard of requirements for Australian crews are much higher than for these foreign crews, and that's the concern we have."

Photos:
http://s148.photobucket.com/albums/s23/Mano-K/Newcastle%20Storm/

Password: storm

[LIBER8ED]

yeah i have seen on the news about whats going on down there.. it came through up here, but we only got the continuous rain.. not cool either, this weather these days just goes from one extreme to the other..

hope it all works out and everyone and everything comes out of it unscaved

[Tom]

god damn, thats crazy as

the weather has been a bitch around here, took yesterday off work pretty much because of it (plus i was sick'ish lol)..

was raining sideways today, i remember when it used to rain downwards lol..

[EJ25]

was raining sideways today, i remember when it used to rain downwards lol..

so tru, rained all around my hosue today, yep all 360 degrees of it, but gave it a nice clean

[Tom]

took my car out in the rain yesterday, she all nice and clean now too! hoorah!

[viriix]

hahaha.. i love free car washes.. ill just have to wait for it to try and see all the dried dust patterns..

from satin pearl white
to dusty pearl white lol

[Tom]

i had a black car for a week

then i attacked it with a hose, and it turned gunmetal grey.. then the rain made it silver!

how odd..

[XRC15T]

olds ships hehe......

[Mano™]

hey guys.. not good here in newcastle.. it's all flooded.. so bad here.. no1 has seen it like this b4.. mates and there parents have lost alot of thigns.. flloooded out etc..

i have just sepnt ova 1.5hrs digin out the front garden in the cold, wet rain to move the lib up closer to the house.. it's so fuking bad here!!!!

no ses or anythin.. number is engaged, carnt get thru to any1.. everyone is bussy..

carnt get pics csaue to dark, all u get is rain drop pics..

the water here.. u could get a fukin ship in and it would run! that is how bad it is.. past my keens @ the front :'(

i so hope the rain stops.. looking @ the bomb site it should settle the fuk down.. i so hope so.. :'(

[viriix]

Hope it settles down for ya Mano :\

I heard it was pretty bad up in Terrigal.

[EJ25]

hey guys.. not good here in newcastle.. it's all flooded.. so bad here.. no1 has seen it like this b4.. mates and there parents have lost alot of thigns.. flloooded out etc..

i have just sepnt ova 1.5hrs digin out the front garden in the cold, wet rain to move the lib up closer to the house.. it's so fuking bad here!!!!

no ses or anythin.. number is engaged, carnt get thru to any1.. everyone is bussy..

carnt get pics csaue to dark, all u get is rain drop pics..

the water here.. u could get a fukin ship in and it would run! that is how bad it is.. past my keens @ the front :'(

i so hope the rain stops.. looking @ the bomb site it should settle the fuk down.. i so hope so.. :'(

sorry to hear, hope it does quieten down..need to sleep soon

[Tom]

mate, thats hard cant say id know how itd feel, as ive never been in something like that before!

but i hope nothing happens to your baby, or anything else of yours or your family/friends!

i hope itll settle soon.. its so bad, i saw it on the news tonight..

its absolutely gunning down tonight!

[XRC15T]

Wisemans cruise anyone???

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/storms-cause-havoc-in-nsw/2007/06/08/1181089338364.html

[viriix]

that's just tragic :\

[Mano™]

Hey guys.. just on quickly for the update.. gotta contin clean up here.. It's a fucking disarster out here.. trees, cars, everything, roofs the works all ova the places, roads etc..

Below is the link to a few photos from a couple min ago.. pretty bad as you will see.. there is mud all ova houses and everything.. water lines from where the water goto.. will try get some photos, so you can see how bad it really was..

Few of my mates houses got flooded with ova 1/2m of rain.. past there knees!!

The ones with the car in the storm water.. they got picked up from the water, went ova the metal railings then into the drain. You wouldnt belive it, but the white sedan, was in there before the ute. The lady was traped, the ute went over her car, and smahed right into hers and shatted the windows, they both were inside, old mate in the ute got out, and helped the lady out, they are both fine.. someomne helped them, and took them back to there house to keep warm etc..

Photos: http://s148.photobucket.com/albums/s23/ ... lean%20Up/

Password: storm