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NewsUpdatedHeated exchange at Antarctic hearing over icebreaker refuelling debacleBSBy Benjamin SeederUpdated April 25 2024 - 8:10am, first published 8:00amBy Benjamin SeederUpdated April 25
2024 - 8:10am, first published 8:00amFacebookTwitterWhatsappEmailCopyThe Australian Antarctic Division's RSV Nuyina icebreaker entered service in 2021, but has been plagued with troubles
since. A federal department official has hit back at claims that the Australian Antarctic Division alone was responsible for failures that resulted in the division's new icebreaker vessel
being deemed too unsafe to sail under the Tasman Bridge to refuel.
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determined that design modifications to the RSV Nuyina made it unsafe to travel under the bridge to the fuelling site at Selfs Point.
The decision meant that the AAD was forced to send the vessel on wasteful round trips to the Port of Burnie to refuel.
At a Senate standing committee inquiry into Australian Antarctic Division funding last year, Tasports officials sought to shift the blame for the debacle to the AAD, claiming that Tasports
had not been consulted on key ship design parameters during RSV Nuyina's commissioning.
But in a heated exchange at the inquiry's final hearing in Hobart on Wednesday, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water deputy secretary Sean Sullivan said he needed
to "correct the record".
"Tasports made an assertation quite strongly that we did not consult them, and that was just incorrect," he said.
"They said there was no consultation in respect to a number of issues, including the design of the ship, whether it was going to be passable under the bridge, a whole range of issues, and I
had to correct the record.
"I went back to the original shipping team, who now do not work in the organisation - they've all retired and moved on.
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment deputy secretary Sean Sullivan said the AAD consulted with Tasports over the design of the new icebreaker vessel. "Since then, Tasports
have then corrected their records to say 'yes there was ongoing consultation between them and the division as a matter of course'", Mr Sullivan told the committee during an exchange with
committee member Catryna Bilyk.
TasPorts Harbour Master Captain Mick Wall said the RSV Nuyina did not meet the minimum safety criteria to sail under the Tasman Bridge after a Non-Standard Vessel Assessment (NSVA) was
conducted.
"The review was done by the Office of the Harbour Master and the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD)," he said.
"The Nuyina has the greatest sail area (windage) of any vessel considered for a bridge transit."
This, combined with the design of the ship's hull, meant the RSV Nuyina "would exceed the safe minimum clearing distances from the bridge pylons" if it attempted to transit the Bridge, he
said.
Mr Sullivan said efforts to resolve the RSV Nuyina's refuelling situation had been delayed by the Tasmanian state election.
He said after the government went into caretaker mode in February, discussions with the Department of State Growth over a possible fuelling barge solution were halted.
"We've spoken to State Growth during caretaker mode, but obviously they can't make commitments around that," he said.
AAD head Emma Campbell said the vessel's next refuel would be conducted by rad tanker instead of making a trip to Burnie.
A Tasport spokesperson said the company was "committed to working with the AAD" and is currently "working closely with the Department of State Growth on the assessment of available safe
options for a fuel barge for Hobart".
Mr Sullivan also told the committee that a $42 million budget blowout at the AAD last year was "unacceptable".
"This was a perfect example of both the lack of certainty within the divisional finances but also in terms of exposure and transparency," he said.
He said the division should have done better in monitoring its spending on an ongoing basis, noting that the projected overspend went from $20 million in March last year, down to $17
million, and then up to $42 million within the space of a few weeks.
The Department has made efforts to make AAD budgets "much more transparent in terms of what our budget is and where we are tracking month on month," he said.
Senator Bilyk responded, asking why this effort was not done earlier.
"That's a very good question in terms of that jump from what was projected to be a $22 million overspend to a $17 million overspend to a $42 million overspend within a month.
"It wasn't acceptable that that increase in the overspend month-on-month was so significant, it wasn't justifiable in terms of not being transparent and not being able to be forecast and not
being able to work with the CFO and getting the support to better manage that."
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