[tdw]

Looking as if everyone involved could be in deep deep doo doo.

Media reporting that incident occurred 150 metres off Bradley's Head. Launch was overloaded and possibly/probably not authorised by owner to be away from its berth. Launch was inbound. Trawler was outbound. If so the trawler was travelling in the inward sea lane of the harbour, probably should have been another 200 metres or so offshore towards the centre of the harbour.

While separation of sea lanes is not strictly enforced when it comes to small craft on Sydney Harbour, in the dead of night I'd reckon the trawler should have been a tad more careful in cutting the corner around Bradleys. The headland is quite high. On one occasion we were very nearly run down from behind by an incoming freighter when we suffered engine failure in a dead calm and were ghosting inbound just off Bradleys.

All supposition as this stage. Story changing all the time. Launch owner originally saying launch had been stolen but now admitting that whoever took it had access and knew where the keys had been hidden. Access to the marina is open to anyone as it consists of about a dozen berths off a public park/walkway with zero security.

This could get interesting.

What could effect the small boat operator is that in NSW you do not need a licence to operate a small craft that is moving at less than 10 knots under power. There are already moves afoot to reduce that speed limit to zero meaning all auxiliary sailing vessel skippers will be required to have a powerboat licence. This comes about after a previous couple of incidents in which people have been killed in accidents involving ferries and pleasure craft.