Moreton Bay News

A new 24-meter passenger ferry designed by Incat Crowther and built by Norman R. Wright & Sons has begun servicing a busy passenger route for commuter and tourism ferry operator SeaLink South-East Queensland. The new Incat Crowther 24, named Talwurrapin, began operating on the Redland Bay to Russell Island route in the Moreton Bay region in late January 2023, providing a vital connection between the mainland and Russell Island.Incat Crowther said it worked with SeaLink South-East…

A Singapore-flagged containership that lost at least 40 containers overboard off the coast of Sydney has been detained by authorities in the Port of Brisbane after Australian inspectors found inadequate lashing arrangements for cargo and heavily corroded securing points for containers on deck.APL England had been en route from Ningbo, China to Melbourne on Sunday when it rerouted to Brisbane after a temporary propulsion loss left the 277-meter vessel rolling in heavy seas and caused several container stacks to topple over about 73 kilometers south east of Sydney.

In the middle an intense training and systems check period, HMAS Darwin slipped into the Brisbane River and berthed across from Navy’s home in southern Queensland, HMAS Moreton. The frigate’s arrival in Brisbane coincided with the first anniversary since the local base was re-commissioned. On arrival, Commanding Officer Darwin Commander Phillip Henry was met by the Commanding Officer Moreton, Commander Mark McConnell, who welcomed the ship to the city. After taking care of all the necessary ship-keeping duties, the crew, who had a surprising number of family connections in the area, ventured ashore for some well-earned rest and relaxation.

Brisbane Navy base, HMAS Moreton, recently hosted 60 Army Assault Pioneer Platoon personnel for a three-week intensive Advanced Small-Craft Operations Course. Situated on the Brisbane River at Bulimba, the base became the home to 30 trainees and 30 support staff from 2nd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment. The Platoon conducted a series of tactical insertions at Bribie and Moreton Islands as well as surf negotiation on the Gold Coast. The course develops skills for pre-landing force operations from Navy's amphibious ships, HMA Ships Canberra and Adelaide. A number of zodiac boats are required to insert the Battalion’s Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance elements prior to the arrival of the main landing force.

According to a report from the Brisbane Times, a steering fault caused a container ship to run aground in Moreton Bay off Brisbane. The 217-metre MSC Basel was leaving the Port of Brisbane and ran aground on the Yule Bank, five kilometres north of Moreton Island, at about 9.30 a.m., Nov. 1. Two tug boats were being sent to help remove the Singapore-bound vessel, but it refloated with the rising tide about midday. (Source: Brisbane Times)

Aluminium Boats Australia (ABA) announced that General Manager Stuart Pascoe won the Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Leaders of Innovation 2010 award. Selected for his individual ability to enable innovation and create commercial value, Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman announced Stuart as winner of the award for the product innovation category. In 2009 Aluminium Boats Australia delivered the first of its Eco Jet waterbus catamarans to Transit Systems for operation around the south Moreton Bay islands. Eco Jet concept that ABA is now building its fifth vessel for the customer.

The containership ANL Excellence, which ran aground in Moreton Bay off Brisbane on July 21, has been given the all-clear to continue its voyage. The ship, which was traveling to Brisbane from Malaysia with a large cargo of consumer goods, ran aground when it became trapped on a sand bank at low tide. Owned by Australian National Line, the vessel's captain admitted outright that human error was to blame for the mishap - a pilot missed a navigation beacon.

Faster and cheaper and more efficient. Nearly everyone agrees that the rapid change from break-bulk cargo handling to the containership has been revolutionary. It is perhaps the most startling development since the shift from sail to steam. In the world of shipping, the change has been so profound that we can readily refer to it as paradigm shift. How do we explain the change? Professional historians are often reluctant to attribute major cultural changes to a single individual. Many factors, large and small, play into the making of any major change so that historians typically try to avoid "the great man" explanation. For example, the American Merchant Seamen's Manual (Sixth Edition,) edited by William B.