For another Pasha Bulker gallery shot on the 21st June 2007,the day before salvage lockdown with a full report on the final refloating click
HERE.Just before sunset on the 17th June I had a brief opportunity on a cold,wet overcast afternoon to get off a few shots on a rushed trip to Newcastle.
Here is some information from Wikipedia.
Early on the morning of 8th June 2007,
Newcastle Port Corporation radioed the 56 moored ships waiting off the coast to load coal to warn them to move out to sea to escape the approaching storm.
[3] The
Pasha Bulker along with 10 other ships did not heed the warning. As the storm hit the
Pasha Bulker could not clear the coast and it became beached at 9:15am. The ship never called for tug boat assistance, ran aground with a fully operational engine room and still had both anchors stored in the
hawsepipe and although the company has cleared the captain and crew of blame some maritime experts believe that proper precautions were not taken by the ship's captain.
[4]After the
Pasha Bulker ran aground the 22 Filipino and Korean crew members aboard were successfully rescued by the
Westpac Rescue helicopter service from the vessel, however it remains grounded about 30m from the shore at the popular Nobbys Beach.
[5][6] The ship was empty of any cargo at the time, awaiting to load 58,000 tonnes of coal from Newcastle Port.
[7] However, it does contain around 700 tonnes of fuel oil, 38 tonnes of diesel and 40 tonnes of lube oil, which if released could cause a major ecological disaster.
FURTHER INFORMATION
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasha_Bulker