That sinking feeling
Three years and still waiting on coast guard boat delivery
GEELONG’S coast guard is operating with only one boat while their comrades at Lake Eppalock have spent the past three years waiting for a new vessel to free up the supply chain.
A series of unfortunate events led to the bottleneck, with Geelong having sold one of its two vessels with the expectation of buying another second hand off the Lake Eppalock flotilla.
But the VF9 Lake Eppalock flotilla can only relinquish their old boat once the order finally comes through on their new vessel, which has now taken more than three years.
Geelong flotilla commander Ian Graham said boatbuilding company Pelagic Boats, which manufactures through PHA Welding and Marine, had organised to provide the Lake Eppalock boat and accepted progress payments, but the timeline for delivery kept changing.
“They were going to have it finished and completed by the end of June, and now here we are and we still haven’t got it,” Commander Graham said.
“It’s bloody not good enough, it’s disgraceful — they ordered a new boat three years ago and they’re still trying to get it.”
Commander Graham said he believed Pelagic Boats was “stuffing them around big time”.
PHA Welding and Marine project and design manager Daniel Hemming said the delays had been caused by design changes and the Lake Eppalock vessel was now “due for completion by the end of this year”.
“The coast guard ordered three newly designed and cus- tom built vessels and the Lake Eppalock vessel was number three on that order,” he said.
“Several changes were made to the first two vessels which . . . pushed back the Lake Eppalock build schedule.”
An elderly Melbourne man drowned at Lake Eppalock in late April during a fishing trip.
The 82-year-old’s body was found floating near his upturned boat.
“Investigators believe the man was returning from his fishing trip,” police said.