February 4, 2005
By LUKE SAYER and AAP
The Mercury

A BATTERED Spirit of Tasmania I was forced to turn back to Melbourne early yesterday in seas up to 20m on Bass Strait.

Passengers recounted a harrowing night ordeal of massive waves, strong winds and knee-deep water in their cabins.

The ferry, which had 628 passengers aboard, left Melbourne at 9.50pm on Wednesday but turned back at 3.30am after 20m waves smashed windows on its upper decks.

Judy Archer, from Melbourne, said the voyage had been terrifying.

"The waves were just enormous, just enormous. I've never seen anything like it and I was on the bunk and I could feel my body sort of lifting up in the air and crash down again," Ms Archer said.

"We were on the seventh deck, the second highest deck, and the waves were higher than our window and they were pounding on the window all night and they blew in the front windows of a couple of the cabins."

She said when she heard the commotion from other passengers, she stepped out of her bunk into water.

"All the carpets were soaked and people were kind of calling out and the crew was saying, 'Are you hurt? Can we help you?"' she said.

"And I opened the door and all the water was running down the passage."

Ms Archer said some passengers couldn't get their doors open because cupboards had moved against them.

"And because they were up to their knees in water, they thought the boat was sinking and so they really panicked and they don't want to go on the boat again."

She also said a lot of people "were very sick".

"There were sick bags [everywhere]. The bins were full of sick bags," she said.

Ms Archer said the crew did a great job calming passengers.

"The crew were wonderful and they gave us lots of tea and lots and lots of sick bags," she said.

It was part of a torrid night for the Bass Strait ferries, copping the weight of stormy weather which hit much of the state.

"Many people were sick and it knocked out the front windows in some of the cabins and knocked the wall out and the door off," Ray Bean, from Longford, said after leaving the ferry.

"All the public address system was blown out and it made it very hard for the crew."

He said there was "quite a lot of damage but no one was hurt".

One of the ship's engineers, Marcus Courtney, said he had never been in such huge waves.

"It was like a roller-coaster. It was a very big roller-coaster ride," Mr Courtney said.

Julianne Tucker, who was on the seventh deck, said she woke about midnight to hear a huge bang as the ship was pounded by waves.

"This huge almighty bang that nearly threw us out of bed," she said.

Her friend and fellow passenger, Leonie Kilby, said she would never go on a ferry again.

"Give me a plane," she said.

Spirit II was delayed on its voyage from Devonport to Melbourne, with the Sydney ferry, Spirit III, breaking its moorings in Devonport's Mersey River.

Spirit of Tasmania chief executive Peter Simmons said Spirit I left Melbourne about 9.05pm and travelled at slow speed because of the weather.

"The ship had damage to some of the front portholes and the master turned the ship back to Melbourne at approximately 3.30am for the safety of passengers and the vessel," Mr Simmons said.

"The vessel arrived in Melbourne at midday today with the assistance of tug boats as a precaution."

Spirit of Tasmania II arrived about an hour behind schedule yesterday morning in Melbourne, with the weather more favourable on its northerly route.

Mr Simmons said that because of the 60km/h winds, the master of Spirit III decided the vessel would be safer anchored mid-river.

He said the ship re-berthed about 6.30am yesterday with the help of a tug.

"There were no passengers on board and the ship sustained slight damage to the forward vehicle loading ramp but has passed safety testing and will leave on schedule today for Sydney," he said.

A special Spirit of Tasmania team was set up yesterday to help passengers with information and alternate bookings once they had disembarked, mainly from the Spirit I.

Mr Simmons said options included refunds or transfers to the next available sailing for the 623 passengers.

Spirit of Tasmania I's scheduled sailing from Devonport to Melbourne last night was cancelled, with passengers transferred to today's day sailing from Devonport to Melbourne departing at 9am.

The damaged portholes on Spirit I were repaired yesterday, enabling the vessel to sail.

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