EIGHT people escaped without injury from a burning charter boat off Portland on Saturday afternoon thanks to the quick thinking of its skipper.
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The six passengers and two crew were rescued when nearby boats came to the aid of the stricken vessel 7.5 nautical miles south-east of Cape Nelson after noticing smoke billowing in the distance.
The Portland-based charter boat, Blue Fin II, was destroyed in the blaze and sunk in about 80 metres of water.
The passengers, all from Melbourne, and the two Portland crew were not injured and were taken back to harbour by the Game On and Sharkmen Viking 3 boats which came to their aid.
Portland Coast Guard flotilla commander Stephen Brown said his volunteers responded to the incident at 2.47pm after Victorian Water Police notified them that an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) had been activated.
The Coast Guard was then advised that a vessel with eight people on board was on fire.
Mr Brown said it was suspected an electrical fault caused a fire in and around the dash in the boat’s helm, with the crew exhausting all their fire suppression equipment as they attempted to extinguish the blaze.
“The skipper of the stricken vessel had deployed his life raft after setting off their EPIRB and had instructed his passengers to abandon ship into the life raft,” Mr Brown said.
“It was quick thinking from the skipper to minimise any injuries. He could have even saved a life.
“Fire on board vessels is extremely dangerous as the people cannot move away from it quickly and (there is) the added factor of fuel explosion.” Game On’s skipper rushed to the rescue after seeing the vessel on fire and then notified the Coast Guard that he had taken six people on board from the life raft.
Viking 3 then reported the exact position of the vessel and took the two crew on board who remained waiting in the life raft in the hope of salvaging the hull.
The Coast Guard’s rescue vessel, CG17, came alongside Viking 3 at 3.30pm to confirm all passengers were safe and had no injuries.
Mr Brown said the Coast Guard then recovered the life raft and moved in to tow the damaged hull back to Portland with help from another charter boat, Adamas 3.
CG17 had trouble keeping the tow line attached as the fire had destroyed its holding points and the boat sunk just before 6pm about half-way back to Portland.
Mr Brown said the volunteers recovered some debris from the water before arriving back at its berth at 7.30pm.
The Blue Fin 2 was a 10.3-metre Steber Fly bridge valued at $130,000. It is not known how much equipment on board was destroyed.
Mr Brown said the boat’s skipper was “pretty upset” but he said the quick-thinking actions of all three charter vessel skippers ensured no loss of life.
He described it as “a good result from a bad situation”.
Sergeant Martin Flannery of Portland police said police took statements from the crew and passengers when they arrived at the Portland boat ramp at 4.10pm.
Sergeant Flannery paid tribute to Game On and Sharkmen for their quick response to the incident and said the Coast Guard also did a “terrific” job.
“I can’t talk more highly of those volunteers.”
He said to top off a bad day, the passengers on Blue Fin II had also failed to catch any fish in the hours before the fire.
The stricken boat’s skipper Joe O’Connor did not want to speak about the incident yesterday.
It is the most serious incident the Portland Coast Guard has had to respond to this year. Mr Brown said it was the 22nd incident the volunteers had been called to since January 1.
