By PAUL MILLAR
PLANS to berth an historic ship at Cunningham Pier as a tourist attraction have been scuttled by the Costa Group.
Michael Hoffman, the chief executive of the Victorian Maritime Centre, said he had not given up hope of bringing the MV Wyuna to Geelong but admitted it was a blow not to locate her near the heart of the city.
The Wyuna is 64 metres long and weighs in at more than 1300 tonnes.
“We have looked at a number of areas to locate the Wyuna, Docklands was one, but because of her size Geelong is a better option,” Mr Hoffman said.
“The thing that has tripped us up is that there is not a public wharf in Geelong any more,’’ he said.
The Glasgow-built Wyuna was a pilot vessel and would have had contact with every major ship that came into the Port of Melbourne from the 1950s until her retirement from service in the 1980s.
The ship was also discretely fitted with gun turret bases during the Korean and Vietnam troubles.
She was built around the same time as the Britannia, the retired Royal yacht, which is now a tourist attraction in Scotland.
Mr Hoffman said Wyuna was regarded as Australia’s version of the royal yacht, although she is almost half the size.
She is currently berthed in Tasmania, until a home is found for her.
In a letter rejecting the offer to berth the vessel at Cunningham Pier, Carl Schokman, said that the berthing of ships “causes a disruption to the orderly running of the current activities”.
The chief executive of the Costa Property Group, said that the pier was a privately-owned facility and “we have to decline your request to berth MV Wyuna at Cunningham Pier”.
“Although the pier structure has been extensively restored and is maintained as a berthing facility, we do not carry insurance cover to operate as a berthing facility,’’ he said
“We made a commercial decision years ago to only allow the occasional Commonwealth naval ship to berth there for a day or two, which has not occurred for several years.”
Geelong Mayor Darryn Lyons said Geelong had again missed out on an opportunity to take advantage of its waterfront location because of the lack of a public pier.
“Here we have a fascinating and historically important vessel that wants to base itself in Geelong but we cannot find a berth for her because we don’t have a public pier,” Cr Lyons said.
The mayor said historic vessels like the MV Wyuna and the Enterprise would be a natural fit for a new Yarra Street Pier.
“Historic ships, naval vessels and the huge number of pleasure boaters that currently use Port Phillip Bay would all benefit from the additional public berths that stem from a new Yarra Street Pier,” the councillor said.
“There is massive interest in private boat operators wanting to tour the bay and visit Geelong for overnight stays but unfortunately we don’t have the berthing capacity.
“The MV Wyuna has the potential to be a fantastic tourism drawcard,’’ he said.
