Accident, misses put heat on pilots

Andrew Mathieson
Queenscliff’s sea pilots are under investigation after several close calls and a direct hit on a fishing boat in the past 18 months, according to State Government.
The Government, which regulates Victorian marine pilotage, has launched a review of Port Phillip Sea Pilots’ operations and safety management.
The review follows a Melbourne court convicting and fining a sea pilot for negligence last week for crashing a ship into a boatload of recreational anglers fishing in the bay near hundreds of other boats.
The anglers had to jump for safety as the ship struck and wrecked their boat.
Captain Peter McKeown was fined $5000 over the incident.
The sea pilots board visiting ships to steer them through The Rip and bay shipping channels.
The service’s control station and boat repair depot is at Queenscliff.
A spokeswoman for Ports Minister Tim Pallas said a “series of near misses” rather than any single incident had prompted the review.
Some of the close calls had been in sight of the Queenscliff control station, the spokeswoman said.
The Government could have the power to cancel pilots’ licences depending on the outcome of the review.
“There was an incident that led to charges being laid and that was a matter for the courts, not the Government,” the spokeswoman said.
“The question of whether or not someone did something that should call for their licence to be revoked is a different matter to be handled by the Government because we regulate and administers the sea pilots.”
The spokeswoman said the Government was “not looking to remove pilotage services” from Victoria’s bays.
Port Phillip Sea Pilots managing director Captain Robert Buck did not return the Independent’s calls over the past three weeks.