The owner of the 30-metre charter yacht Anaconda III, holed in poor conditions on Monday, heaped praise on his crew and the captains and crews of ships that came to the assistance of the distressed tourist ship.“You can imagine the relief of all involved now that it is all over except the paperwork,” shipowner Mark Cranson exclusively told The Whitsunday Coast Guardian on Tuesday morning.
“The quick response to the situation meant the passengers were safely back on land mid-afternoon and the ship was tied up in port and secured Monday night at about 9pm.”
“It is with much gratitude to all who assisted so quickly. It is a credit to our industry to have such dedicated and trained crews who can make a good call and follow it through.” Mr Cranson said.
“I can’t list all the help we received as I am flat out right now, however I would like to quickly thank them all through the pages of The Whitsunday Coast Guardian. They are a credit to our marine community,” Mr Cranson added.
The drama began after dawn when Anaconda III struck a coral bommie at Bait Reef about 18 nautical miles northeast of Hayman Island. The ship struggled in the poor weather conditions and called for assistance when about three nautical miles from Hayman.
Hayman Island marine manager Ken Bryant sent Hayman Island’s Sun Aura who helped stabilise Anaconda III with VMR, Water Police and Maritime Safety Queensland while Hay Point VTS monitored the situation.
Airlie Beach based tourist ship Atlantic Clipper arrived on the scene with a self-propelled high capacity pump, took the passengers safely back to the mainland reporting only that the passengers were calm, and had not suffered in any way.
Proving that a smart fix is a good fix, local concreter Randel Murray grabbed some bags of rapid set concrete from the hardware shop, jumped in his boat went out on the job and did a quick pour to seal the hole. So next time you have a problem consider a bag of rapid set concrete; and your mates.
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