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The Australian Government welcomes the safe arrival of the Portland Bay into Port Botany.

After losing power on Monday morning, Portland Bay was in serious danger of being shipwrecked, an outcome that would have risked lives and environmental disaster.

Thanks to the heroic efforts of mariners, tug boat crews and rescue crews, disaster has been averted.

The Australian Government is fully committed to safety at sea.

As is usual after such events, the ATSB and AMSA will now both begin investigations into exactly what went wrong, including examining the condition of the ship and the decision to depart port in the severe weather conditions experienced on Monday.

Quotes attributable to Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King:

“Thanks to the incredible efforts of seafarers and tug boat crews, we have narrowly avoided disaster.

“This ship came within a couple of hours of shipwreck, an outcome that would have risked lives and environmental disaster.

“I also thank AMSA and state authorities for keeping me and other colleagues closely updated throughout this emergency.

“Seafarers deserve to be safe at sea. I know that ATSB and AMSA will be conducting thorough investigations to determine exactly what went wrong on Portland Bay.”