The Australian Antarctic Division’s new icebreaker RSV Nuyina conducts several resupply missions to the ice from Hobart each summer. Photo: Australian Antarctic Division.
An argument has erupted across party lines in Tasmania over the responsibility for the difficulties in refuelling the Australian Antarctic Division’s (AAD) new icebreaker and reports that the AAD is considering moving its base of operations to the Western Australian port of Fremantle.
Tasmanian Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Michael Ferguson accused former Labor leader and Member for Franklin David O’Byrne of fearmongering after Mr O’Byrne questioned officials about the future of the AAD’s role in Hobart.
The dispute has arisen over TasPorts’ refusal to allow the AAD’s new icebreaker, the 25,000-tonne RSV Nuyina, to transit under Hobart’s Tasman Bridge in order to refuel at Self Point, which is upstream from the bridge.
An ABC 7:30 report said modelling performed by the Australian Maritime College has shown that, due to the Nuyina’s size and distinct hull shape, which is optimised for operations in Antarctica, it is susceptible to cross winds and also has a tendency to slide during a turn.
“The vessel is perfectly suited for straight line operations and perfectly suited for ice operations, it is a very powerful ship,” TasPorts harbourmaster Nick Wall told ABC Hobart on 25 August. “But, when you put that vessel into a dynamic turn, it slides.”
The vessel is also four metres wider at its widest point than TasPorts was advised it would be when the original design was submitted in 2018.
As a consequence, in August TasPorts denied permission for the Nuyina to travel under the Tasman Bridge. Because there are no fuel facilities downstream from the bridge, the Nuyina has been forced to travel to Burnie in north-western Tasmania to refuel at least twice – a trip of nearly 700 km each way – at a cost of nearly $900,000 for the 2023/24 season.
“We now have to find nearly a million dollars to fund an icebreaker that shouldn’t have to go to the north of Tasmania to refuel,” Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson told the ABC. “And that means every dollar that’s taken out of the AAD budget to fund something like this is a dollar that isn’t spent on science.”
An October 2023 federal Senate Inquiry into the AAD was told the previous government had ignored warnings going back to 2018 that the vessel wouldn’t be able to safely pass under the bridge.
“The initial information provided to the AAD with respect to the requirements of the transit was in 2018,” TasPort chief executive Anthony Donald told the inquiry.
“I still remain to this day a little perplexed as to why the AAD would invest such significant money in a really important vessel for Australia and not confirm arrangements and put the appropriate things in place to secure a dedicated wharf that was fit for purpose.”
While the vessel can birth at Macquarie Point downstream of the bridge, there are no refuelling facilities there, and the area will soon be closed for redevelopment.
During questioning of TasPorts officials on 23 November, Mr O’Byrne suggested they had to bear some responsibility.
“This is about the Antarctic program being able to be functional in Hobart,” Mr O’Byrne said.
“My question is, as a key part of your responsibility to the Tasmanian people and your shareholder ministers, you’ve got to get on the front foot about this… This must be part of your risk matrix, what steps did you take proactively to resolve it?”
In a release later that day, Mr Ferguson labelled Mr O’Byrne’s questioning “a cynical play for the political limelight” by “recklessly asserting that the Australian Antarctic Division was looking to shift its marine research operations from Hobart to the Port of Fremantle”.
“This unfounded claim is at odds with the reassurances provided by the federal Minister for Infrastructure Catherine King and the Chair of TasPorts Stephen Bradford, but Mr O’Byrne didn’t want to budge from his political play,” Mr Ferguson added.
“Minister King and her federal Labor colleague Tania Plibersek have been clear that there is no risk to Tasmania’s continuation as the home base for our national Antarctic research efforts.”
