Storms leave 21 people stranded on cargo ship off Sydney

Storms leave 21 people stranded on cargo ship off Sydney
4 July 2022 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-04/twenty-one-people-stranded-on-car...

A rescue operation is underway to try and retrieve 21 crew stranded on a cargo ship that had been drifting towards rocks amid wild seas near Sydney.

Deputy police commissioner Peter Thurtell said the bulk carrier lost power and began drifting towards the cliffs at the Royal National Park, south of Sydney, not long after it left Wollongong about 7:30am.

The ship is now double anchored about 1 kilometre off the coast, and authorities believe a tugboat that has just arrived on the scene will prevent it from being pushed towards the cliffs.

A second tugboat is expected to arrive in about two hours.

"My understanding is that the tugboat that is being sent has the capacity to tow it further to sea and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority will co-ordinate the resources needed to get it underway out of its own power," Commissioner Thurtell said.

A plan to airlift the crew has been abandoned as too dangerous for the time being, he said.

Earlier NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said emergency services were on their way to the cargo ship to try and airlift to safety eight non-essential crew.

"It is obviously a very precarious position and our thoughts are with those on board," he said.

The ship is being battered by heavy rain and strong winds, part of a deluge affecting a 500km stretch of coast all the way from Newcastle to Bateman's Bay in the state's south.

Bureau of Meteorology [BOM] spokesman Jonathan How said those across Sydney are currently experiencing "a little bit of reprieve in the rain", but a gale warning and severe weather warning remain current.