After we pulled into Broome in Western Australia Cruise Director Rebekah came on the PA saying that it would take some time for us to dock because of the wind, please don’t gather near the gangways. A few minutes later the captain came on and said we were going to move forward a hundred yards to see if we could get a more secure berthing. A little later he came on and told us we were scrubbing our visit to Broome, he just couldn’t make the mooring work. He promised to get back to us when things were less hectic on the bridge.
As we pulled away, we saw buses that were ready to take cruise mates on tours also leave the ship. I always feel sorry for the lost income to a community caused by a port call cancellation.
Once we were at sea, he explained what happened. Broome has a new floating cruise ship dock. We were only the second ship to tie up, or in our case to attempt to tie up there. The dock was moving and the bollard to which our bow lines attached was also floating and moving. The wind and currents were working against each other. He was afraid that friction on the bow line may cause it to fray and snap. The wind was predicted to pick up more during the day so he canceled the call. He said that Broome will probably be taking a closer look at the design of their new cruise pier.
The cruise staff scrambled to schedule new events to keep us entertained, lectures, movies, and other activities, but the best event was not scheduled. The captain came on the PA to tell us not to worry about the helicopter hovering on our port side. No one was in trouble; it was using the opportunity to practice pacing a cruise ship and hovering. He said, “It’ kind of cool.”
And it was. Rebekah, our cruise director said it was an Australian Coast Guard bird. But it really belongs to PHI International, an oil field service company. PHI is a Louisiana based firm originally called Petroleum Helicopters Incorporated. It is in Western Australia to serve the offshore natural gas industry and regional mining interests. It has bases in Broome, and Exmouth with regional offices in Perth. It is contracted with Shell and others to service their offshore riggs and provide search and rescue for the oil industry. Since they have the infrastructure in place they’ve contracted with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and the state of Western Australia to provide broader search and rescue services. One news story framed it as “A side hustle.” The regional director called it a way of giving back to the community.
Looking at the record, they have pulled a few sick passengers from cruise ships off the coast so it makes sense for them to practice on us. The aircraft was a Sikorsky S-92A. It has military versions that can carry twenty-two troops but was initially designed to service the oil industry. The Search and Rescue version was originally developed for the Canadians. The platform looking appendage you can see in the picture sticking out from the starboard aft is a stabilizer.
PHI participated in a rescue in 2022, documented by Perth Channel 7, when some boaters got in trouble at Horizontal Falls, an area along the Kimberly region coast where it looks like there is a horizontal waterfall when the tide is running between sections of reef. Our lecturer Chris talked about the falls the day before and talked about shooting it in a Zodiac. In one of their web pieces, it says that they are always looking for training opportunities for their crews. With Zaandam they saw one, radioed the captain, got permission, stayed with us for around 20 minutes, and we had an unexpected sea day diversion.
