High & dry

The Pasha Bulker


My blog post on July 17, 2010 on Shipwrecks & sea disasters from http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/05/shipwrecks-sea-disasters.html included a photo of the Cherry Venture’s hull, and this set me to thinking about this and other Australian wrecks which didn’t sink.
Here are just a few:

On July 6th, 1973, the Cherry Venture was driven aground in a wild storm at Double Island Point on Noosa's North Shore. The 1600 ton Singapore owned cargo ship, manned by Malaysian, Filipino and Chinese crewmen, was bound for Brisbane from Auckland when it was caught in ‘the worst storm in living memory’ (22 ships fought the 40’ waves). The ship foundered in 12 meter waves and 140 kph winds, it ran aground after its anchor cable broke. It lay in n upright position on the beach.
RAAF helicopter crews safely winched all crewmen from the ship and shuttled them to nearby Tin Can Bay. Attempts were made to refloat the Cherry Venture by digging out sand from around it and filling the excavation with water, but it was not able to be pulled back out to sea and the idea was abandoned. Since then, the rusting red wreck of the Cherry Venture has become a tourism landmark on the Sunshine Coast. Sadly, she was broken up and removed from the beach in 2007.

HMVS Cerberus, the last flagship of the Victorian Colonial Navy was scuttled as a breakwater off Black Rock in 1926. In 1866, the Victorian government ordered a ship to supplement the shore-based fortifications of Port Philip Bay (part of the extensive fortifications at Queenscliff, Popes Eye, South Channel & Point Nepean) and to defend the colony in the event of a Russian attack.

The Cerberus served till 1924 when it was decommissioned. In 1993 there was a major structural collapse after rusting deck supports gave way, leaving only the deck beams to support the deck, turrets, and superstructure. To reduce the load placed on the deck the four 18-ton guns were removed and placed on the seabed next to the wreck. Now a 100 metre exclusion zone exists around the wreck. The Cerberus site, and Heritage Vic's flickr set and Gary Bell's OceanWideImages.

The Maheno was built in Scotland in 1904-05 and was the world’s first ever triple screw steamer. It was employed on trans-Tasman crossings for several years after she was launched. The Maheno was then used as a hospital ship in WW 1. In 1935 the Maheno was sold as scrap to be melted down in Japan, it was on this journey that the Maheno was hit by an unseasonal cyclone off the coast of Fraser Island. Attempts were made to refloat the Maheno unsuccessfully and eventually it was left abandoned on the 75-mile beach.

The Runic, a 13,587 ton (meat freighter) refrigerated cargo liner. Built in Belfast in 1950 it was 561 x 72 x 32 ft. and was wrecked, on Middleton Reef, Pacific Ocean, during a cyclone in February 1961, no lives were lost. At the time, it was the world’s largest refrigerated cargo liner. She was caught in a 1961 cyclone between Auckland and Brisbane and came to grief on Middleton Reef’s northwest side. She struck the reef at a speed of about 17 knots, riding over the sharp coral for about 25 metres before stopping, leaving almost three quarters of her length in deep water. It sits high and dry on the reef in a upright position. The whole stern section has completely broken away from the main structure and stands separate. The Runic is no longer the attraction that she once was. Charred with fire, the ship is now a broken relic, stripped of her valuable fittings Since the time of European settlement in Australia, many other unsuspecting ocean going vessels have fallen victim to this treacherous reef. Between 1806 and 1972, at least 32 vessels are known to have been wrecked on the reefs; 17 on Middleton Reef and 13 on Elizabeth Reef. Some authorities believe the real figure may be as high as 90 vessels, and includes the One and All a ketch which sank near Middleton Reef in 1971. Her crew of six constructed a wind driven generator on the wreck of the Runic while sheltering and awaiting rescue.

The Ethel, a three-masted iron barque of 711 tons was built in 1876. Bound from South African ports to Semaphore, S.A. The Ethel went ashore on Reef Head, close to Cape Spencer on 2nd January 1904. One member of the crew who attempted to swim ashore with a line lost his hold and was drowned, but the remainder of the crew reached safety. The wreck was first reported by SS Ferret when she arrived at Port Adelaide on 4th January. Attempts to free the Ethel failed and she became a total loss. Ironically, the Ferret was lost only a few metres away 17 years later and the hulk of the Ethel was used to secure a lifeline to rescue the crew of the Ferret. Her boiler protrudes from the sand just metres from the Ethel.

On 21 July 1991, the Greek tanker Kirki was off the Western Australian coast, about 125 miles north of Perth and 18 miles west of Cervantes. Its forepeak ballast tank had filled with sea water, efforts to pump out the tank were unsuccessful and serious structural damage had occurred to the forward hull. The weather was severe, force 8 winds from the west/south west, rough seas and heavy swells. The damaged bow section broke off causing the bulkhead to fracture and expose the cargo tanks to the sea. Cargo oil was spilled and fire broke out from the bow, the fire was extinguished by wave action. An estimated 2.9 million gallons of light crude oil (the Exxon Valdez spill was 10.9 million gallons). were dumped into the Indian Ocean, the oil slick was more than seven miles long and almost a mile wide The Kirki was sailing from Saudi Arabia to Fremantle. Helicopters rescued the 37 crew. Following the removal of oil the Kirki was towed to Singapore where she was broken up for scrap.