LANDING craft John Duigan has returned to regular services at Tasmania’s King Island, with the support of tugboat Leaders Creek, following upgrades to the island’s Grassy Port.

TasPorts’ chief executive officer Anthony Donald said the upgrades were critical after John Duigan experienced a bollard failure on 23 July while departing.

“Fortunately, no one was harmed, but one of the findings of the investigation was that the John Duigan and other vessels had been using mooring lines and a berthing and departure sequence that on occasion exceeded the rated capacity of the bollards at Grassy Port,” Mr Donald said.

Mr Donald said that while this was a legacy issue, the investigation found that an upgrade to the bollards was necessary to support the use of heavier mooring lines and the range of berthing and departure sequences each vessel master may require.

Bass Island Line general manager Kate Daley said a plan was implemented immediately to ensure continuity of services to King Island, with the Eastern Line Shipping-managed landing craft King Islander stepping in.

TasPorts worked with Bass Island Line on solutions to enable John Duigan to safely return to Grassy Port ahead of the works being completed.

“The King Islander is a smaller vessel than the John Duigan, and was able to accommodate the lower line class imposed by TasPorts for safe use of Grassy Port while the interim measures were being implemented,” Ms Daley said.

Ms Daley said that TasPorts’ engineering analysis showed that a tugboat could assist in reducing the tension on mooring lines during the arrival and departure sequence, enabling John Duigan to safely use the existing infrastructure within reasonable weather parameters.

“The cost of towage services is less than half the cost of chartering the King Islander and keeping the John Duigan on standby. While TasPorts has a fleet of tugboats, they were unsuitable, being too big to make contact with the relatively low sideline of the John Duigan,” she said.

TasPorts says the upgrade will see a number of bollards replaced and overall infrastructure strengthened, with the tug to support operations until the work is complete, and the harbour master satisfied from an operational and safety perspective.