Free trips still on offer as ship cut apart

By MATHEW DEARNALEY and JO-MARIE BROWN

As big chunks of steel plate are cut from the stricken cruise liner Pacific Sky in an Auckland shipyard, a radio station is still giving away free trips on board.

P&O hopes to finish repairs to serious corrosion in the hull in time for a Pacific cruise to leave Auckland on April 2, and is reassuring the More FM radio station that competition winners will be able to sail for Sydney on the 46,000-tonne ship 11 days after that.

This is despite confirmation from the Maritime Safety Authority yesterday that required repairs include cutting steel sections out of the hull after the separation from it of a bulkhead, or internal wall, on both sides of the ship.

Bulkheads are vital structural components for maintaining watertight compartments and adding strength, and the one in question extends across the ship about halfway along the hull.

Safety authority director Russell Kilvington said corrosion had caused vertical splits about 6m down the intersections of the bulkhead and each side of the hull, meaning water was able to swill between compartments.

While there was no danger of the ship's sinking from the 165 tonnes of water that poured into it on a voyage to Tonga last week, forcing it back to Auckland, Mr Kilvington said such damage was "completely not on."

He said the National Rescue Co-ordination Centre was put on alert on Friday night after P&O advised his agency that the ship was turning back with 1470 passengers and 600 crew.

This followed on-board investigations into why the water was coming in, and the discovery of corrosion previously hidden by vertical ducts.

"When they opened up a duct and saw water in tanks that were supposed to be dry they got a hell of a fright."

Large pieces of steel plate, about 10m high and 3m to 4m wide, were now being cut out of each side of the hull and replaced at Babcock's shipyard at the Devonport naval base.

As the 240m ship is too large to be taken into the yard's drydock, a watertight "cocoon" has been extended below the waterline to allow Babcock workers to begin the repairs.

Mr Kilvington said work would continue around the clock under the supervision of a Lloyds certifier.

As the company refunds fares for a second slate of 1480 passengers booked to have left on a cruise on Sunday, More FM is still offering listeners 40 free trips for when the ship is due to sail for Sydney on April 13.

Station chief executive Larry Summerville said staff had been assured the ship would be ready in time.

"If it's not, then we'll look at some other reward, but at this stage we don't foresee any problems."

Mr Kilvington said that although P&O had not been obliged to notify his agency before the ship left Auckland last week, its decision not to do so was "not the cleverest thing" and the company had apologised.

This followed a temporary repair cleared by a Lloyds certifier, and he said he expected better communications in future from both parties.

Routine repairs last month in a Brisbane drydock were inspected on March 3 by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which has sent its most senior ship surveyor to Auckland to view the latest discoveries.

Further reading: nzherald.co.nz/marine