Author(s): Michael Stoddart

Transport/Maritime | Shipping & Boating

On Friday October 12th, 1973, Blythe Star left Hobart for King Island with a cargo of fertiliser and beer. Fourteen hours later it sank without warning. Its crew took to a life raft, destined to drift around southern Tasmania for eight days before beaching on the Forestier Peninsula. The Judge in the Court of Inquiry ruled the ship sank because the Chief Engineer had emptied a ballast-water tank, despite no evidence supporting the Judge's view. Three men's lives were lost through indifference and neglect on the part of those with a duty of care to the ship and its crew, who demonstrably failed both.