She is here! HMAS Canberra is here!

The HMAS Canberra is currently sailing into Victorian waters and will shortly be entering port phillip bay. Stay tuned for more information, photo's and video of her arrival.

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VARS Announces the Canberra is Coming!

The ex HMAS Canberra warship will soon be in Victoria to be prepared for sinking as an artificial reef and dive site

Tuesday, 27th May 2008: The Victorian Artificial Reef Society (VARS) is pleased to announce that preparations are already underway for the ex HMAS Canberra warship to be bought to Victoria and sunk to create a major new temperate water artificial reef and dive site.

The Birdon Group has been appointed by the Federal government to prepare and sink the 30 year old FFG-7 class guided missile frigate. VARS understands that a large seagoing tug is already on its way to Rockingham in Western Australia and will soon begin towing the 138 metre long decommissioned warship to Geelong in Victoria.

Expected to arrive through Port Phillip Heads within a few weeks, the ex warship will be berthed at Geelong’s grain pier where she will be carefully stripped and prepared for sinking off Point Lonsdale and Barwon Heads. This work is expected to take at least six months.

VARS will continue to work closely with the Federal and State government agencies, plus the Birdon Group, to ensure the vessel is prepared to properly meet the requirements of the Victorian dive industry and diving community.

Early in 2006, VARS began its efforts to secure the ex HMAS Canberra for Victorian divers. In July 2007, the Federal Government announced it would contribute $7 million towards the cost of sinking the ex HMAS Canberra as a dive site for Victoria. The Victorian Government has also pledged $1 million. Project Management responsibility for this project was handed over to the Defence Material Organisation (DMO).

VARS expects that sometime before mid-2009, the ex warship will be towed out through Port Phillip Heads to an area already regularly frequented by Victorian divers. There she will be holed by a series of carefully placed explosive charges, and sink 30 metres to her final resting place.

Within days of the sinking, VARS expects to have divers reporting schools of small fish sheltering in her cavernous hull. And after just a few weeks, her grey war paint will be mottled with the seedlings of an undersea garden as the warship starts to become a living reef.

The ex HMAS Canberra Reef will add a new dimension to the diverse and wonderful diving around Port Phillip Heads and enhance Victoria’s reputation as a world class temperate water diving destination.

Delay strikes divers

By Andrew Mathieson

Ship to languish in Western Australia for months

Queenscliff Dive Centre's Jason SalterFriday, 20 April 2007 — CASHED-UP divers and ambitious tourism operators will wait at least until summer to explore a sunken warship off Point Lonsdale.

State Labor Member for Bellarine Lisa Neville has defended several months of delays in bringing the promised HMAS Canberra to the region.

Negotiations with maritime defence service provider Tenix for the ship to be transferred from Perth have stalled.

State Government said before last year's election that it planned to sink the vessel in December.

The Liberal Federal Government has committed $2.8 million to the project.

Ms Neville denied she was "trying to shift the blame" amid accusations that state authorities were delaying the process during a federal election year.

"I'd hope the negotiations would be resolved within the next few weeks in terms of work needs to happen," she said.

"This ship will be sunk, in my view, and it will happen this year."

"But the question will be whether it can happen during the winter and that probably won't be the case."

Ms Neville said limited availability of experts on sinking ships was compounding the delays.

Authorities would also have to remove dangerous materials to make the former warship safe for the marine environment, she said.

A spokesperson for the Liberal federal Member for Corangamite Stewart McArthur told the Independent he would like the ship issue resolved as soon as possible.

The delay has disappointed Queenscliff Dive Centre manager Fiona Holding.

"I think it's because the governments have been hesitant to sign with the election coming up," she said.

"We were told February or something like that when it was first announced but now they don't really know."

Ms Holding rejected Ms Neville's claim that winter was unsuitable for creating the dive site.

Ms Holding said the diving school still attracted "technical divers" during winter.

Sinking of the ship "can't come quick enough," she said.

State Government has estimated a net benefit to local tourism of $1.3 million a year.

However, state authorities have held off on signing the deal.


The Bellarine Peninsula Independent, Friday 20th April 2007


The Bellarine Peninsula Independent, Friday 20th April 2007

VARS calls for volunteers to help sink the ex HMAS Canberra in Victoria

ex HMAS Canberra Reef
VARS calls for volunteers to help sink the ex HMAS Canberra in Victoria

 

Friday, 12th October 2007: In 2008, the ex HMAS Canberra warship will be sunk in Victoria to create a major new temperate water dive site. The Victorian Artificial Reef Society (VARS) is now calling for volunteers to help with this exciting project.


The Story So Far


In July 2007, the Minister for Defence, Brendan Nelson, announced the Federal Government would contribute $7 million towards the cost of sinking the ex HMAS Canberra as a dive site for Victoria. The Victorian Government has also pledged $1 million. Project Management responsibility for this project was handed over to the Defence Material Organisation (DMO).


DMO quickly issued a Request for Tender for the preparation of the ex HMAS Canberra for scuttling. A number of responses were received and it is expected DMO will announce the winning contractor within a few weeks.


Real Work Begins


VARS expects the winning contractor will start work on preparing the warship for sinking in December 2007. Then, sometime in 2008, holed by a series of carefully placed explosive charges, the ex HMAS Canberra will be scuttled outside of Port Phillip Bay.


Within days of the sinking, we expect to have divers reporting schools of small fish sheltering in her cavernous hull. And after just a few weeks, her grey war paint will be mottled with the seedlings of an undersea garden as the warship starts to become a living reef.


But there is still much work to be done by VARS to ensure the Victorian diving community fully benefits from this magnificent opportunity.


Can You Help?


VARS is looking to recruit volunteers to take part in what may be a once in a lifetime opportunity to sink a warship. This is your chance to be involved in exciting activities like:

  • liaising with DMO and the successful contractor on the preparation of the vessel;
  • lobbying the Victorian Government for the preferred dive site location;
  • helping to develop site access, management, and preservation plans;
  • promoting the artificial reef as a unique marine education/research opportunity;
  • arranging for artefacts from the ex HMAS Canberra to be made available as memorial sites;
  • helping to prepare dive plans, wreck site maps and diver resources;
  • liaising with tourism authorities, plus tourism and dive industry operators to ensure the dive site is promoted locally, nationally and overseas;
  • organising arrival and scuttling celebrations; and
  • being amongst the first to dive the wreck.

VARS now has an expanded committee of 8 members, made up of a balance of volunteers from both the commercial and non commercial sectors of the Victorian diving community. This committee will need many volunteers to help through the final stages in preparing the ex HMAS Canberra.


Whatever your skills, experience or interests, there is much you could contribute. VARS invites you to check out the Volunteer Today section of its web site at www.vars.org.au to see how you can help and volunteer.


The ex HMAS Canberra Reef will add a new dimension to the diverse and wonderful diving around Port Phillip Heads and enhance Victoria's reputation as a world class temperate water diving destination. Be a part of it!

 

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