A SHIPPING pilot averted a possible disaster by bringing the out-of-control
cruise liner Pacific Dawn to a stop before she reached Brisbane's busy Gateway Bridge.
Brisbane Marine Pilots Captain Peter Liley was at the helm of the Pacific Dawn on Saturday morning when the liner lost all power and steering just 700m away from the six-lane bridge over the Brisbane River.
Two tugboats got the Pacific Dawn under control, bringing her to a complete standstill 70m shy of the bridge, which is 1.6km long and 64.5m high.
The Pacific Dawn is 245m long and 70,310 tons with a capacity of 2020 passengers.
"I managed to stop the ship before we got to the Gateway," Capt Liley sais.
"I was piloting the ship and we lost all propulsion.
"It's unusual, but we are trained for these sorts of things.
"If it was under the Gateway we could have drifted clear, but it was before the Gateway."
Capt Liley said a ship without power was prone to drift, and there was a danger it could not be stopped before hitting the bridge's pylons.
He said the ship's captain was investigating what caused the fault, saying he believed a fuse had been affected by a saltwater leak.
"There's an investigation into what occurred," he said.
"We used two tugs to pull the ship up, and we pulled up before the Gateway."
"We waited on the chief engineer on what services he could provide, but he couldn't provide any services so we devised a plan to take the 'dead' ship back to Hamilton."
A spokesman for Carnival Australia, which operates the Pacific Dawn, said the cruise liner had suffered power problems but it was not a major fault and it would set sail again on Saturday afternoon.
"It was a temporary loss of power," the spokesman said.
"It was a controlled situation.
"The ship is OK and will set off for a South Pacific cruise today."
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Story Source: Herald Sun - Pacific Dawn almost crashes into Brisbane bridgePhoto Taken by: Maxham
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