Australia’s transport safety watchdog is investigating both new Spirit of Tasmania ferries after one veered outside a shipping channel and the other lost its main steering system during a passenger crossing.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) began investigating after Spirit of Tasmania V ran into trouble on a trial voyage from Geelong to Devonport on October 24, a week before the ferries began carrying paying passengers.
Spirit V’s autopilot was slow to respond during a turn. After its settings were adjusted, the ferry turned more quickly and the autopilot could not stop the turn.
The crew switched to manual steering, but the ferry briefly went outside both sides of the marked channel. The crew brought it to a stop before continuing to Devonport.
The ATSB is also looking into what happened aboard Spirit of Tasmania IV on November 5.
The ferry was approaching Port Phillip Bay on a crossing from Devonport to Geelong when its steering wheel stopped responding as the crew switched from autopilot to manual control.
Spirit IV’s crew used emergency steering to bring a harbour pilot aboard, then called off its initial approach to Port Phillip Bay while engineers investigated.
The crew then used separate steering levers on the bridge to continue to Geelong, where the ferry arrived about four hours late.
A tug escorted the ferry through the shipping channel as a precaution. TT-Line chair Ken Kanofski told ABC Radio on Monday the tug did not have to intervene.
He said that an inspection in Geelong found a “frustratingly minor issue” in Spirit IV’s steering console.
He said the fault was fixed and the ferry sailed again on the evening of November 5 without incident.
He said it was too early to say whether the incidents were linked, although the information he had suggested they were unrelated.
Kanofski said both ferries were now being steered manually through Port Phillip Bay and still used autopilot in open water across Bass Strait.
The ATSB will examine voyage recordings, equipment and records from both ships and interview crew and others involved.
It expects to complete the investigation between April and June next year.
