Media release: Sea Heritage Foundation calls for independent inspection of MV Cape Don before any decision on disposal

Please find below a statement from the Sea Heritage Foundation, attributable to Dr CJ Manjarres-Wahlberg, Chairman and Director.

The Sea Heritage Foundation, the volunteer run charity that cares for MV Cape Don, is asking the Minister for Roads, Jenny Aitchison, to commission an independent review of the vessel before any irreversible decision is made about her future.

The Minister’s release describes Cape Don’s underwater condition as “unknown”. The ship has had three underwater inspections and several above water surveys. Sea Heritage's position is that the underwater hull is sound. The right and responsible sequence is to conduct an unbiased, independent review first and make a decision second. Reversing that order risks losing a 63-year-old piece of Australian maritime history on the strength of an assumption. Independent inspection and transparency about costs are the basis of a sound decision.

The Foundation shares the view that safety must come first, and that Cape Don needs permanent repairs in dry dock. That has been the Foundation’s goal throughout. Specialist contractors have carried out hull repairs, installed automatic pumping with 24/7 alarms and cameras and removed fuel oil from the vessel. An independent assessment commissioned in August concluded that she could be towed to Garden Island for dry-docking, subject to final approvals. The timing of that docking rests with Defence’s scheduling at Captain Cook Dock.

Built at the NSW State Dockyard in Newcastle in 1963, Cape Don is Australia’s last Commonwealth Lighthouse Service tender. Today she is used to train Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, veterans and researchers.

“We share the Government’s goal of a safe harbour,” said Dr CJ Manjarres-Wahlberg, Chair of the Sea Heritage Foundation. “A decision of this significance should rest on independent professional evidence, not on how a vessel looks from the water. In the interests of transparency, we have asked Transport to publish the basis of its $15 million figure so the public can compare the cost of disposal with the cost of preservation. We remain ready to work with Transport, Defence and the Minister on a safe way forward.”

Media enquiries:
Ruby Willoughby
The Sentral Group 
ruby.willoughby@sentralbrands.com