Updated ,first published
A boat owner has described how a fire ripped “really quickly” through superyachts at a marina on Sydney’s lower north shore, sinking three and badly damaging a fourth as police frantically evacuated surrounding vessels.
People were woken up and told to flee their boats after emergency services were called to the blaze at The Spit Marina, at the southern end of the Spit Bridge in Mosman, shortly before 3.30am on Friday.
Fire and Rescue NSW Superintendent Adam Dewberry said 40 firefighters were needed to contain the blaze, which caused millions of dollars in damage. Four people escaped the flames and NSW Ambulance paramedics treated a woman for smoke inhalation before she was taken to hospital in a stable condition.
Dewberry said the blaze could have been even more destructive.
“There’s dozens of boats and yachts and a lot of money, and people are living on some of these vessels as well,” he told Nine’s Today program.
Boat owner Andrew Carr said he was woken by police evacuating people about 4am.
“Loud bang at the door, which is unusual when you’re sleeping in your boat,” he told Nine News.
“I got up, there’s a police officer at the door, he said: ‘Could you get off the boat there’s been a fire on the dock.’
“They went through every boat, he knocked on everyone’s door.”
Carr recalled seeing clouds of toxic smoke as the fire on one boat quickly jumped to others.
“And burnt really, really quickly, I was really surprised. They couldn’t put them out,” Carr said.
Vision from the scene shows one of the charred boats sinking. Authorities are investigating what sparked the blaze, but it is not currently being treated as suspicious.
NSW Port Authority boats were also involved in dousing the fire and helping to remove fuel and oils from the vessels to avoid contaminating the water.
The Spit Marina site is operated by d’Albora and also houses a number of marine services, boat hire and brokerage services as well as a boat club and restaurants.
It is described as “one of Sydney Harbour’s most prestigious boating precincts” with “dedicated superyacht berths”.
David Joyce, d’Albora’s head of marketing, said normal marina operations were expected to resume on Friday afternoon.
“Our priority is ensuring safety on site, supporting authorities with their investigation and clean-up, and restoring safe operations as soon as possible.
“We have deployed significant resources to the site to assist with these tasks and minimise the disruption to our customers,” he said.
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Jack Gramenz is a breaking news reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
