https://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/12/18/17/55/video-shows-moment-ferry-crashed-into-yacht-in-sydney-harbour.

Regardless of who has right of way the ferry should have tried to avoid a collision and in real time he had plenty of time to bear away and miss the yacht.

that does look pretty damning of the ferry captain...

Sectorsteve said..
Wrong. the sailboat was on a stbd tack in a nor easter and decided to endanger the lives of everyone by then tacking and badly to port right in front of the ferry and stalled. Had he stayed on the stbd tck he would have been clear of fort denison and the ferry. The footage shows that the way was clear for the yacht to carry on out of harms way. The ferry wouldnt have been able to manouver or stop too well quickly. it was too close. Yachts fault. Its one of the dumbest moves ive ever seen. Comments like " it looks like the ferry captain deliberately ran down the yacht" is also retarded. Why would he do that?
The ferry was going about its daily twice hourly 25/30 min passage and encountered yet another moron. On the harbour you need to be looking out 'for ferries, cruise ships etc constantly. If you cant do that then you are not fit to be there. Sailing in the harbour isnt hard but requires vigilance.

the yacht was on port tack. they either decided to tack towards Fort Denison to give the ferry room, or just weren't looking. either way it was pretty obvious that they screwed up the tack and were stuck in irons. presumably the ferry could have veered to starboard, they can turn pretty quickly.

maybe there was another boat on the starboard beam of the ferry that we can't see in the video? however, if there is IMO it is still poor judgement on the ferry captain's part to be heading into a situation where they are unable to maneuver out of trouble if the yacht does screw up.

southace said..
The ferry driver was at fault no doubt about It . He should of went hard to starboard avoiding the incedent. .

right. To port is a big rock called fort denison so no go there. yachts fault. would you do that in front of a big boat mate? i wouldnt.

Fort Denison is to port, not starboard.

sure, the yacht screwed up. it does look very much like the ferry could have avoided the collision though. it's a bit late to be sounding the horn when the yacht clearly lacks steerage. maybe the captain of the ferry was distracted by something?

if the ferries on Sydney Harbour didn't make way defensively there would be a collision every week.

i wonder if those ferries always have cameras recording?

I had two very close encounters with the ferries, thanks to the idiot captain of mine while racing, years ago.
The feeling of helplessness next to that hullk bearing down on you is awful.

It thought me a lesson for life of keeping proper watch and to keep away from all vessels magnitude larger than mine!
No matter who is right the only loser would be me.

MorningBird said..
First look I thought the ferry was in the wrong to maintain course and speed with a yacht clearly out of control and lacking steerage in front of him.

On a 2nd look at the video, especially the very brief view of the yacht at the beginning, the yacht was moving at good speed on port tack across the ferry's bow and if it maintained course there wouldn't have been an issue, The yacht then either deliberately or negligently tacked in front of the ferry creating the collision situation. When the ferry skipper realised what the yacht was doing he then warned the yacht appropriately.

In my opinion the yacht skipper put himself in a collision situation and gave the ferry skipper little option but to go full astern. A alteration of course to starboard while full astern would be pointless and maintaining speed and altering course could have meant a much more severe impact. Taking account of the busy harbour and frequent close situations I expect I would have done exactly as the ferry skipper did.

Exactly my conclusion when I re-visited the video. It is the very first few seconds that show the yacht clearly on port tack. As they turn to starboard (evidently without a proper look out and enough speed) they luff up in the direct path of the ferry. Had they maintained port tack the accident would not of happened.

Keep a good look out.
Ed

Definitely see the yacht was able to sail away on a port tack. Should have stayed on this. The skipper musn't have seen the ferry. Otherwise why would he tack in front of it!

Bananabender said..
Ultimately the yacht was in the wrong as one must give way to ferries however I wonder why the ferry sounded one blast at all and if he thought they might collide why not two to indicate turning or passing on their port side if it was clear that if the yacht stayed on course on the port tack. It looks like the ferry skipper had plenty of time to realise it would be close.
I believe the yacht altered course after the one blast and it may well have been the skippers reaction that the ferry is turning to starboard
Without knowing all the facts I would probably use that argument if the yachts skipper with my insurance coy.

I experienced a similar situation between Freo and Woodman point with a freighter fast closing on us from behind.
He gave one short blast as he was closing which left me wondering and anxious of his intentions .
We where in no danger of being under his bow so I worried that his intention may be to turn. I decided to tack the boat to starboard go wide and circle in behind him. He ended up maintaining his coarse so the single short blast was just a warning that he was approaching.

I wonder if the manly ferry can go astern without engaging the front prop. Probably could have maneuvered out of the way but wouldn't want to have one of those hit me with the front prop spinning!

Bananabender said..
Ultimately the yacht was in the wrong as one must give way to ferries however I wonder why the ferry sounded one blast at all and if he thought they might collide why not two to indicate turning or passing on their port side if it was clear that if the yacht stayed on course on the port tack. It looks like the ferry skipper had plenty of time to realise it would be close.
I believe the yacht altered course after the one blast and it may well have been the skippers reaction that the ferry is turning to starboard
Without knowing all the facts I would probably use that argument if the yachts skipper with my insurance coy.

If you watch it closely the yacht is already in irons only a few seconds after the blast. The ferry sounded the blast as a consequence of the yacht's manoeuvre into a tack directly in front of him.

The Manly ferries are fast and even now catch me out coming up astern, but the rivercats are stupendously fast and are on you very quickly. Even motoring around the harbour I try to keep a 360 degree lookout before any course alteration or sudden change of speed.

If the ferry had had more time he would/should have sounded five short blasts, a "wtf are you doing" sound signal. In this case I doubt he had time to give 5 short blasts and if he had the yacht could have been confused by 1 short blast, altering stbd, 2 short blasts, altering port, or 3 I am going astern. By the time the 5th blast came it would be too late.

In this case the ferry skipper will be cleared because he had formal right to stand on, the yacht tacked directly in front of him and then failed to complete the tack. The ferry went astern when he realised a collision was imminent. Maintaining speed and altering to stbd could well have resulted in a fatal collision, better to hit at slow speed.

If the ferries were to try and get out of the way of each yacht passing in front of them they wouldn't get to Manly. Realistically, in these situations they can only react after the other vessel has created a collision situation.

I suspect the skipper will be counselled to be more careful i future. 10 slaps over the wrist with a soggy noodle.

As someone who has never sailed on the Harbour but has been on a ferry I can well imagine being spooked
by a ferry bearing down on me especially if an apparent signal has been given (one blast). On the River our
signal blasts lasted 1-2 seconds, but nothing fast happens on the River. So what would be an appropriate
signal just to say 'I'm here right behind you" two nano blasts perhaps, something really quick to let you know.
May be a bit late to start changing things, but if lives are at stake......well.

Right MB, I didn't know that was the case but, yes, a long blast will do. So as the ferry Master didn't do a long blast
he must have thought the yacht was going to stay on course. I guess it's a fine line between deciding if a blast is
necessary or not. I think I would prefer the blast whether I needed it or not, then we would both know I knew the ferry
was there.

I have been on the Manly ferry when a number of craft were ahead, after a number of blasts it came to a dead stop, waiting till the offending yachts and skiffs etc had cleared. My guess is that in heavy traffic the instruction is keep course and slow down.

I would expect there are a number of blind spots around the ferry, and with the concentration up front, it would be easy to miss a small boat that you may hit if you altered course. Also for the ferry to alter course it would have to signal its intentions? Not enough time to do so, and if by changing course it could cause a collision with a boat that was doing the right thing, then the collision would be the ferry's fault.

As a kid I used to sail Sabots out of Drummoyne sailing club, a fleet of about 20 boats were becalmed trying to round a marker at Longnose point they were just drifting with the tide, a ferry came round the point, then ran through the fleet - missing some by metres and capsizing 3 boats. The Stannard family of Stannard Bros Ferries was involved with the club, and one his sons was in the fleet.

The Ferry captain did not last long!!