Sydney Harbour News

A pair of new response vessels has been commissioned in Sydney Harbour.The state-of-the-art vessels, Burra and Girawaa, were designed by Incat Crowther and custom-built by Birdon in Port Macquarie to assist in major on-water incidents, including pollution response, police operations and firefighting both on and from the water.The vessels have the ability to travel at speeds of 27 knots, making them the fastest response vessels ever commissioned by the Port Authority of New South Wales (NSW).

The Australian Commercial Marine Group (ACMG) has merged with the Commercial Vessels Association (CVA).The CVA has been a steadfast advocate for the interests of commercial vessel operators. Specializing in operations on Sydney Harbour and extending its influence throughout regional NSW, the CVA encompasses a diverse range of operators, including ferry services, tour and party boats, houseboats, whale and dolphin watching ventures and fishing charters.The association played a pivotal role in advocating for the Marine Tourism and Charter Vessels Award…

The United States commissioned a warship in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday, the first time a U.S. Navy vessel joined active service at a foreign port, as the two close allies step up their military ties in response to China's expanding regional reach.The Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Canberra (LCS-30)—named after a Royal Australian Navy cruiser that was sunk while supporting the U.S. Marine landings on Guadalcanal in 1942—was commissioned at a ceremony at an Australian naval base on Sydney Harbour, officially joining the U.S.

The U.S. Navy's Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Canberra (LCS 30) arrived in Sydney, Australia, July 18, ahead of the ship’s ceremonial commissioning.USS Canberra entered Sydney Harbour in formation with Canberra-class landing helicopter dock HMAS Canberra before mooring pierside at the Royal Australian Navy’s Fleet Base East.“We are thrilled to be here in Sydney this week, and to show this city our fast, optimally-manned ship that sails across the seas as a symbol of our navies’ dedication to each other,” said Capt. Marc Crawford, Commodore of Littoral Combat Ship Squadron ONE.

Carnival Corp’s troubled Ruby Princess cruise liner, the biggest single source of coronavirus infections in Australia, docked south of Sydney on Monday to get help for sick crew members requiring urgent medical treatment.The Ruby Princess, now the target of a criminal investigation led by the homicide squad in the state of New South Wales (NSW), has more than 1,000 crew still on board, after passengers disembarked in mid-March without health checks.There have been at least 360 COVID-19 cases…

Greg Butler was rushed to hospital with COVID-19 within days of getting home to self-isolate after being allowed off the Ruby Princess cruise liner in Sydney, one of more than 130 passengers who tested positive in Australia’s worst coronavirus outbreak.One of them, a woman, died earlier this week.The 56-year-old Butler had been holidaying with his partner, Robin Russ, who remains in isolation.“I tested negative and he tested positive,” Russ said over the telephone from the apartment they moved to for quarantine.After disembarking at Sydney Harbour on March 19…

British shipbuilding company Wight Shipyard Co. has secured an order for four vessels for Malta’s Captain Morgan Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Fortina Investments Ltd.The order is for two 20 m and two 33 m catamarans, all to be designed by One2Three Naval Architects, said the shipbuilding company based in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight in the UK.Peter Morton, CEO, Wight Shipyard, said: "We have been working with One2Three to develop lighter, more fuel-efficient ferries with the subsequent reduction of fuel costs. The operators see the long-term benefits in using less fuel and thereby reducing carbon emissions. We are also working to integrate the boarding design for the ancient wharves and docks of the towns of Malta.”vessels will replace a number of older vessels…

With great fanfare, more than 1,500 officers and sailors have lined the decks of HMAS Canberra in the Australian Fleet’s 2017 Ceremonial Divisions. Sydney Harbour provided a spectacular backdrop as personnel from East based ships and shore establishments gathered in their finest summer uniform. The divisions were reviewed by Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer who said the occasion marked a successful – and significant – year. “This year we have reintroduced the destroyer to the Australian Fleet with the commissioning of HMAS Hobart,” he said. “We have deployed maritime task groups in complex multinational exercises such as Talisman Sabre and used them to excellent effect in the inaugural Joint Maritime Task Group deployment Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2017.

Twelve former Commanding Officers have sailed onboard Royal Australian Navy frigate, HMAS Darwin, today as she transited through Sydney Heads into her home port for the last time. Darwin was escorted through Sydney Heads by Navy’s newest ship HMAS Hobart for a traditional “cheer ship” as she passed the fleet before being welcomed alongside Garden Island by former sailors, officers and support staff. The Adelaide Class frigate is scheduled to be decommissioned at the end of the year to make way for the Navy’s new fleet of Hobart Class Guided Missile Destroyers. Darwin’s Commanding Officer, Commander Phillip Henry, said the significance of the final passage was not lost on the ship’s company.

Ex-HMAS Sydney has left Sydney Harbour to be towed to Western Australia for recycling, says Minister for Defence Personnel Media Release. Minister for Defence Personnel Dan Tehan said the frigate will be recycled by Australian company Birdon Pty Ltd. “Ex-HMAS Sydney had an illustrious career during her 32 years in service with the Royal Australian Navy,” Mr Tehan said. “The Adelaide class frigate was involved in operations spanning the Middle East, East Timor, Fiji and the Solomon Islands and earned a Meritorious Unit Citation during the First Gulf War in 1991. “She was built at the Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle, Washington, USA, and commissioned there on 29 January 1983.

HMA Ships Darwin, Melbourne and Parramatta have escorted the Spanish Armada's Cristobal Colon into Sydney Harbour as part of her role in providing platform and familiarisation training to Australian personnel. Over the next three months the ship will assist in enabling Australian Navy people to have advance training for Australia's first Aegis Guided Missile Destroyer, Hobart. Commanding Officer Hobart Captain John Stavridis said the opportunity to embark in Cristobal Colon presented an opportunity for the Royal Australian Navy to prepare Hobart and the Navy for the swift effective operation of the destroyers. “Being able to train with…

The Royal Australian Navy’s replenishment capability is operating at capacity once again with HMAS Sirius back in the brine after four months of maintenance at Captain Cook Graving Dock, Garden Island. The fleet tanker cut an impressive figure against the city skyline as she sailed out of Sydney Harbour and into the Pacific Ocean for sea trials recently. She will return to Sydney briefly to take on bulk fuel at Gore Cove before commencing her transit home to Rockingham, Western Australia. It will be the first time a Navy tanker has ‘bunkered’ fuel at Gore Cove since HMAS Westralia did so in 1993. The crew of 73 are looking forward to the upcoming increase in pace. “We are excited about getting Sirius back to sea to do our job”, said Ship’s Warrant Officer Dale Young.

A parking nightmare in Sydney harbour left the giant cruise liner Radiance of the Seas unable to dock because the single berth big enough to take her was already occupied. With a tight schedule to meet, the cruise organisers were forced to pay half a million dollars early last month to hire a flotilla of small vessels to ferry 2,500 passengers ashore, and bring back more waiting to embark for the next voyage. "We have not done something like this ever anywhere else in the world," says Adam Goldstein, president and COO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "It was completely foreseeable going back almost a decade that Sydney didn't have the infrastructure ultimately to support the ongoing growth in business," he adds.

On a frosty and unseasonably sunny Galician morning, the crew of Spanish Armada ship F-105 ESPS Cristóbal Colón, embarked with a detachment of five Royal Australian Navy personnel, departed the historic Naval station of Ferrol, bound for Australia. Australian Defence Attaché to Southern Europe, Captain Ray Leggatt and the Commander of the Naval Action Group One, Rear Admiral Spanish Armada, Alfonso Perez de Nandares, farewelled the frigate under the command of Commander Ignacio Cuartero Lorenzo. Cristóbal Colón will arrive at Fleet Base West, in Rockingham Western Australia, in mid-February and will remain until June supporting introduction into service training for the ship’s company of destroyer, NUSHIP Hobart.

Six ships from four navies arrived at Garden Island, Sydney in early November, creating a buzz on the harbour. The visits came ahead of the Royal New Zealand International Naval Review, which will take place in Auckland later this month. Indonesian Navy ship KRI Banda Aceh, a Makassar class landing platform dock was the first to arrive in Sydney. Chilean Navy tall ship Buque Escuela Esmeralda followed a few days later. The sail training ship, which is undertaking her 61st training cruise, was welcomed to Sydney with a 3 inch gun salute from the cannon positioned near the Royal Australian Navy Heritage Centre. She was escorted by a fleet of vessels including local tall ships Southern Swan, South Passage and James Craig and a fire tug.

Four new fast ferries, owned and managed by Manly Ferries and operating in the busy waters of Sydney Harbour, will use Simrad technology for safe navigation. The owner has specified a range of Simrad bridge equipment for its latest vessels, including an NSO Evo2 quad-core marine processor, a 4G broadband radar with beam sharpening and target separation, an Autopilot AP28, and Simrad MO16T widescreen monitors with sunlight viewable screens and multi-touch capability. The four new vessels, two 24-m fast catamarans and two 33-m fast catamarans, will be operating on several busy routes linking Circular Quay in Sydney Harbour with locations including Darling Harbour, North Sydney, Pyrmont Bay and Harbour Beaches.

Australia’s NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has fined Carnival PLC $15,000 after one of its P&O Cruises ships, the Pacific Jewel, breached new low sulfur fuel regulations in Sydney Harbour. A fuel sample taken by the ship’s crew and provided to EPA officers while the ship was berthed at the White Bay Cruise Terminal on February 26, 2016 had a sulfur level of 0.293 percent, nearly three times the 0.1 percent sulfur limit. The fine is the first to be issued under the new regulations which came into force from October 1, 2015.

Japan's advanced attack Soryu submarine carried out drills with Australia's navy on Tuesday as a German company launched a campaign to advertise its expertise - as a race for a A$50 billion contract to build Australia's next submarine fleet neared a climax. Industry sources told Reuters the Australian government is speeding up its decision on the contract - France is the other major bidder - with a winner now expected to be announced by the end of the month. Australia intends to buy 12 new submarines, a centrepiece of its defence strategy unveiled in February, which called for an increase in military spending of nearly A$30 billion over the next 10 years to protect strategic and trade interests in the Asia-Pacific.

The Port Authority of New South Wales (NSW) has issued advice about the Consultation Draft of a new regulation requiring cruise ships to use low sulphur diesel fuel (sulphur content of 0.1% or less) from 1 October. If the regulation is passed, this would be applicable for all cruise ships visiting Sydney Harbour, and then to include all New South Wales ports from 1 July 2016. For information about operations in Australia contact GAC Australia at [email protected]

As a global move toward using cleaner fuel takes place, countries are forming new or reforming old regulations which see jurisdictions increasingly demanding the use of low-sulphur fuel in ships that berth in their ports. This results in a possibility for heavy penalties to be imposed on shipowners and Masters for the use of incorrect fuel. Stuart Edmonston, Loss Prevention Director at UK P&I Club, comments on the increased demand for using low-sulphur fuels in shipping: “There are increasing demands on shipowners to comply with mandates regarding the use of low-sulphur fuels in ships. Edmonston continued, “Shipowners need to be aware of the differing rules and costs across jurisdictions as they face significant fines for noncompliance.

From 1 October, a new regulatory amendment will come into effect which requires cruise ships calling to use low sulphur fuel (01% of less) while berthed in Sydney Harbor. A second stage of the amended regulation, which will require the use of low sulphur fuel (0.1% or less) while in Sydney Harbour (including while berthed) will come into effect from 1 July 2016. Exceptions from the requirement to use low sulphur fuel are provided in some circumstances, for example, ship safety and emergency situations or technical problems. Ships may seek approval from the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to use alternative methods to achieve an equivalent reduction in sulfur oxide and particulate matter emissions, for example, the use of exhaust scrubbers.

Australia has farewelled a Royal Australian Navy ship that has served the country for over three decades in a ceremony today on Sydney Harbour. The Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove, AK MC (Retd), together with the Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, and Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, AO, CSC, RAN, attended the decommissioning of HMAS Sydney, at her homeport of Garden Island, Sydney. Minister Payne paid tribute to the service of ship’s company past and present. The Australian White Ensign was lowered from the ship for the last time, and handed to Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander David Murphy, RAN, as is the tradition for Navy during decommissioning ceremonies.

China Communications Construction Co. Ltd (CCCC). has agreed to build a highly automated container terminal in Sydney Harbour, depending on the results of a feasibility study to be conducted next year. Albert Barbusci, CEO of Harbor Port Development Partners (HDP), said that his company, which has the exclusive right to market the port of Sydney, has signed a deal with China Communications Construction Company related to the design, construction and ownership of a deep-water container terminal in Sydney. It’s expected the multi-year development of the port will cost more than $1 billion. HDP also says discussions are underway on a potential equity stake in the project by the Chinese firm.