A large luxury cruiser has sunk after catching fire in Pittwater on Monday afternoon, with four people on board escaping unharmed.
Emergency services were called around 1.40pm on 16 March following reports of a single vessel on fire just north of West Head, near Patonga.
One man, four women and a dog were on board the 18m (59ft) luxury boat when the blaze broke out.
All passengers were rescued by a passing vessel and were uninjured, but the incident initially sparked concerns people may have been in the water, prompting a response from the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
One bystander has told Manly Observer the five people on board had initially been pulled from the water by fisherman in a small tinny before being transferred onto the larger vessel.
“We were out on our big boat with our skipper and got a radio call saying it was an emergency.
“As we were hoofing it round there, a little tinny was bobbing around and then radioed to us to say come and get the people.”
She said the fishermen had been returning from a day of fishing up the coast when they spotted smoke and saw the group jump into the water to escape the flames.
The five boaters, along with their three-legged dachshund, were transported onto the 38ft vessel and taken back to Prince Street Marina in Newport.
The dog, named Frankie, had recently had a leg amputated after being hit by a car three weeks ago.
“They were unharmed, just in utter disbelief,” she said.
“The lady that first jumped in the water is an ocean swimmer and she is training to swim the English Channel.
“So, she had no hesitation jumping in the ocean off that boat and saying to her friend, ‘I know you cannot swim but I have got you’.”
She told us the group had been unable to access life jackets because the fire started at the rear of the vessel where they are kept.
Rex Pemberton, who was nearby on his sailboat at the time, said he first noticed large plumes of smoke while waiting near Hungry Beach.
“I was waiting for my family to get off the beach from a bushwalk and I just saw a whole bunch of black smoke from around the corner,” he said.
“I knew that it was not a bush fire because it was big billows of black smoke, that is a fuel fire.
“It was pretty concerning.”
Rex immediately called triple zero before grabbing a fire extinguisher and heading towards the burning vessel in a small tender.
“It was badly burning by the time I got there.
“The police had arrived, and they were trying to spray the boat with water but they were not putting it out.
“They were doing their best, but at that point the fire had fully taken over the boat,” Rex said.
“It looked like a very fancy boat.
“it would have been millions of dollars of boat that just got torn apart.”
A spokesperson from NSW Rural Fire Service said at about 4.30pm most of the vessel had sunk, leaving about a metre of the bow visible above the surface.
A significant amount of diesel and oil had leaked into the water following the blaze and responders were unable to deploy booms due to swell in the area.
Booms are floating barriers used to contain or divert oil and fuel spills in order to reduce environmental damage.
Rescue crews also considered towing the vessel, but this was not possible as most of the boat was already submerged and part of the stern appeared to be lodged in the riverbed.
NSW Police said the fire is believed to have started in the engine bay and is not being treated as suspicious at this stage.
Hazmat teams from NSW RFS are expected to assess the wreckage tomorrow.
Authorities say the partially submerged boat currently presents a navigation hazard and have asked other marine crafts to avoid the area.
