THE vehicle carrier Hoegh Jeddah was again on the move mid-afternoon last Thursday after being anchored in the main shipping channel south of Rosebud since about 7am.
It is understood the pilot called a halt to the ship’s departure from Melbourne because of engine trouble.
Peter Harry from the Port of Melbourne Corporation said the shup had been anchored on the south side of the channel so as not to impede traffic. He said there had been no danger of it being grounded.
By mid-afternoon the Hoegh Jeddah was undergoing sea trials, accompanied by the tug Hastings, before being given the go ahead to leave Port Phillip.
The 58,000 tonne Norwegian-flagged ship was built in 2014.
The 200 metre long ship is one of several similar looking vessels regularly seen in Port Phillip.
In January, the Hoegh Osaka, one of the Hoegh Jeddah’s sister ships, was deliberately run aground in the Solent off the Isle of Wight after leaving the British port of Southampton.
The ship’s owners, Hoegh Autoliners, said the decision to ground the ship on a sandbank was made after it developed a list.
Chief executive Ingar Skiaker was quoted by the BBC at the time as saying there had been no leakage of oil or fuel and that the master and pilot had “executed their duties based on their best judgement and we’re not second-guessing their actions right now”.
Mr Skiaker said the ship, built in 2000, was carrying 14000 cars (including Bentleys and Rolls Royces) had been “only one third full”.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 13 October 2015
