Western Port
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Western Port
realestate 13 August 2013
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PAGES 55–56
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WESTERN PORT SCOREBOARD
PAGES 57–59 MOTORING
PAGES 60–63
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13 August gust – 19 Augustt 2013 20 013 3
MPNEWS (1300 676 397) or email: team@mpnews.com.au www.mpnews.com.au
Busted POLICE manning a booze bus braved the elements to test motorists on Western Port Highway on Friday night. While the wild winter weather kept the number of random breath tests down to just 150, it was by no means quiet. Testing resulted in one man returning a positive result for drugs, and a woman registering a blood alcohol level of .087. Also heating things up for police was a stolen car that failed to stop, resulting in a pursuit. The car is believed to be the same one that had been unsuccessfully chased by highway patrol officers in Casey earlier in the night. Picture: Gary Sissons
Islands ferry sold By Chris Brennan THE reliability of ferry services between Stony Point and French and Phillip islands has again been questioned following the sale of the newer of Inter Island Ferries’ two vessels. Three-year-old, twin-hulled James Grant was last week heading to Darwin after being sold to a national ferry operator for an undisclosed amount. A person familiar with the deal said the vessel was sailed to Queenscliff to be inspected by an agent acting for the prospective buyer.
However, the sale raised questions over the reliability of the islands’ sole ferry link, with only the 15-year-old George Bass now available. George Bass was directed to stop operating by Transport Safety Victoria late last month until unspecified equipment had been updated or fixed. Ferry owner Frank Denvir said at the time the matter had been minor and services had not been affected. However, a regular user of the ferry, who spoke to The News on the condition of anonymity, said the TSV order
highlighted the vulnerability of the service. They were surprised to hear the more modern and reliable James Grant had been taken out of service and sold. “It’s seems like a strange set up to have no back-up if there’s any problem with George Bass. “It’s an older vessel and you’re bound to have a breakdown at some stage and that would leave us without any service.” Former Inter Island Ferries’ skipper Anthony Mayall said he also had 'DYLG *ULI¿WK
serious reservations about the longterm viability of George Bass as the service’s sole vessel, claiming he had been sacked last month after refusing to skipper the 15-metre ferry due to ongoing safety concerns. Mr Mayall said he had been more than happy to skipper the 18-metre James Grant but felt compelled to notify maritime safety authorities when the boat was suddenly pulled out of service five weeks ago and replaced by George Bass. “I raised a number of safety issues
with that vessel [George Bass]; I refused to drive it [until the safety issues were addressed] and I was sacked because of that,” Mr Mayall said. “As the master of a vessel, I’m responsible for the safety of passengers; that’s the law and I wasn’t prepared to operate the vessel. “George Bass is 15 years old and it’s seen a lot of service in that time. To meet the schedule, you had to run the engines flat out the whole time. That has to affect reliability.” Continued Page 3
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