Lady Cheryl sinks

South East Trawl vessel Lady Cheryl hit Corsair Rock at Port Phillip Heads near Point Nepean at approximately 1:00am on Saturday 24 March 2012. The vessel is 27m long and weighs around 157 tonnes. The six crew were rescued by Port Phillip Sea Pilots. The exact nature and cause of the incident is under investigation.
After authorities were alerted to the incident a multi-agency Incident Management Team was established to manage and contain pollution and plan salvage operations. The Victorian Department of Transport reports that, “Vigilant monitoring of the environment is continuing throughout the operation revealing no impact to wildlife to date and only small amounts of diesel fuel at the site and in the bay. Ongoing monitoring of the shoreline, rookeries, seal resting sites and sites where other wildlife rest will continue to be undertaken by Department of Sustainability and Environment and Parks Victoria. The EPA is conducting environmental sampling at the vessel site. There has been a significant amount of debris reaching the shoreline, which is being monitored and removed daily. All current environmental monitoring by DSE, EPA and Parks Victoria has identified no adverse impact on the environment from this incident. The visible creamy-coloured plume was a result of the vessel coming into contact with the clay seabed with wave surges and has not been generated by leaking fuel”.
The vessel’s owners and crew have asked the Association to publicly thank the Port Phillip Bay Pilot who responded to a radio call and arrived within minutes to remove all crew members safely.