Two drivers managed to stop their vehicles at the edge, but not before their front wheels had dropped over the lip of the bridge deck. While no cars were travelling between the 18th and 19th pylons when that section collapsed, four cars drove over the gap, killing five occupants. Īs the collision occurred on a Sunday evening, there was relatively little traffic on the bridge. The subsequent Court of Marine Inquiry found that Pelc had not handled the ship in a proper and seamanlike manner, and his certificate was suspended for six months.
Seven crew members were trapped and drowned. Lake Illawarra listed to starboard and sank within minutes a short distance to the south, in 35 meters of water.
The vessel drifted towards the bridge midway between the central navigation span and the eastern shore, colliding with the pile capping of piers 18 and 19, bringing three unsupported spans and a 127 meter section of roadway crashing into the river and onto the ship's deck. In desperation Pelc ordered 'full speed astern', at which point all control was lost. Although Lake Illawarra was capable of passing through the bridge's central navigation span, Pelc attempted to pass through one of the eastern spans.ĭespite several changes of course, Lake Illawarra proved unmanageable due to having insufficient steerage way. Initially approaching the bridge at eight knots, Pelc slowed the ship to a 'safe' speed. The ship was off course as it neared the bridge, partly due to the strong tidal current but also because of inattention by the ship's master, Captain Boleslaw Pelc. The 1,025 m long main viaduct of the bridge was composed of a central main navigation span, two flanking secondary navigation spans, and nineteen approach spans. The bulk carrier Lake Illawarra, carrying 10,000 tonnes of zinc ore concentrate, was heading up the Derwent River to offload its cargo to EZ Industries' Risdon Zinc Works, upstream from Hobart and about 3 km from the bridge. (Australian Eastern Summer Time UTC+11) on Sunday 5 January 1975.
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