SteamShip Cartela Trust

Transcription

1 SteamShip Cartela Trust A PLAN TO RETURN A MARITIME ICON TO THE PEOPLE OF TASMANIA 1 Cartela Restoration Project SteamShip Cartela Trust

2 Contents Contents At a glance Project Overview Summary of Reports... 7 (i) Executive Summary, Benefit Cost Analysis... 7 (ii) Executive Summary, Significance Statement... 8 (iii) Executive Summary, Conservation Management Plan... 9 (iv) Executive Summary, Condition Report (v) Executive Summary, Shipwrights Report (vi) Executive Summary, Naval Architect Report The Cartela project will: For full Detail *acknowledgment: cover artwork. Is by Louis Rodway 2 Cartela Restoration Project SteamShip Cartela Trust

3 1. At a glance SteamShip Cartela Trust will return the iconic heritage River Steamer, Cartela, to her 1912 specification, so that she can return to her home waters as her designers intended. Complete with the Plenty & Sons steam engine built for her in Newbury, England, in 1912 on full display to delight her passengers. Vessel significance One of two surviving Royal Australian Navy vessels used in World War One Only vessel to hold a passenger survey document for over 100 years continuously. Subject of a Commonwealth Royal Commission in Intimately linked to the economic development of Hobart. Built in 1912 and operated continuously on the River Derwent. The project A $5mil refit over 4 years Re-installation of the original steam engine built for her in 1912 Strong training focus during rebuild and in operation. Catalyst for establishing a heritage vessel restoration industry. Benefits Tourism growth. A refitted Cartela powered by the original steam engine provides a unique tourism draw card. Operated by Not-for-Profit charitable trust. An asset owned by the people of Tasmania. Positive economic multiplier. Re-established focus on heritage vessel preservation. A commercial steam driven heritage vessel on the Derwent operating as its own discrete profit centre. Linkage between tourism regions. Potential new regional industry with on-going employment. every Tasmanian has a Cartela story. 3 Cartela Restoration Project SteamShip Cartela Trust

4 2. Project Overview Cartela is a highly significant heritage vessel that was constructed in Hobart in Since that time she has held a continuous passenger survey certificate creating a record that is unique in Australia and possibly the world. Designed to serve as the only feasible form of communication between Hobart and its outlying coastal communities, her history is inexorably interwoven with the commercial development of Tasmania, through the first half of last century. At the time of her construction, Hobart s outlying communities were totally reliant on the maritime highway Cartela and her sisters serviced. It was not until the 1940 s that a realistic road option was provided to many of the coastal communities. Cartela has continuously operated without a break on the River Derwent and connected waterways, generating a place of great affection in the hearts of four generations of Tasmanians. But, Cartela is also a vessel of enormous national heritage value. Cartela was leased by the fledgling Royal Australian Navy, immediately on the outbreak of World War One. She is the only vessel in Australia and possibly the world that has held a continuous passenger survey document for over 100 years constructed of either timber or steel. Built to be the fastest and best, she is the last of the class recognised as River Steamers, making her one of Australia s oldest screw driven timber coastal vessels. She has served her community faithfully over that time with a history that includes regattas, races, rescues and Royal Commissions. Quite unlike any similar project, Cartela has worn the years well, and is still in remarkable condition for her age. The SteamShip Cartela Trust has been established to accept Cartela as a gift from the owners. This Trust is recognized by the Australian Tax Office as a charity and is administered by a nationally registered Not-for-Profit, SteamShip Cartela Limited. Cartela will be donated to a trust for the benefit of all Tasmanians to undertake a refurbishment costed at $4 million over a period of 4 years. (one million dollars per year.) And from this, a program has been designed to deliver a large number of community benefits. The site preferred for this project is Franklin, in the Huon Valley. During the refit, Cartela will become a tourism attraction, welcoming visitors to inspect progress and witness the process. The crew will be comprised of 8 skilled trades and 4 apprentices undertaking a very heavy training commitment. The regional employment created will not be limited by the 12 direct FTE s, but will generate community volunteer positions for guides and front of house staff, as well as promotion and support of existing programs operated by the Wooden Boat School and the Living Boat Trust. This project is enthusiastically supported by both the Franklin community, and the Huon Valley Council. At the completion of the refit it is hoped the 4 Cartela Restoration Project SteamShip Cartela Trust

5 pool of skilled trades including those qualified via apprenticeships provided by this project, will then go on to further enhance Tasmania s reputation as the natural home for Maritime heritage preservation. Leading to Franklin becoming, the national centre of excellence, in heritage vessel refurbishment. Even during the operational phase, Cartela will continue a training regime in steam engine driver for interstate museums and tourism industry front of house and interpretation staff. SteamShip Cartela Limited, the Not-for-Profit entity created to administer the trust has already undertaken all necessary studies to ensure this project is ready for immediate start. Among the studies prepared is a Benefit Cost Analysis which states a conservative estimate is that for every $1 invested in this project, a return to the state economy of $4 is achievable. On completion of the restoration project, Cartela will operate as a unique, operational steam ship, offering a blend of short river cruises and longer full day and over-night excursions boosting accommodation demand ashore. The business plans asserts that the vessel will be cash positive, and not reliant on any further assistance. Direct staffing in the operational phase is expected to be 19 F.T.E. s. This will boost the employment and training opportunity for an area of Southern Tasmania that is experiencing the loss of the long standing forestry industry. This program will gather a pool of skilled trades people who will undertake the training of an additional 4 new Marine-craft Construction apprentices. It is expected that over the life of the program this new pool of skills will recreate the necessary mass to establish a National centre of excellence in the maintenance and restoration of Australian heritage timber vessels. The communities at Dover and Franklin under consideration as a base, face radical changes in structure in the near future, underpinned as they are by the declining Tasmanian forestry industry. The unemployment levels in both communities are already climbing. This project will re-establish links these communities once had to the shipbuilding industry and provide an opportunity to grow associated sustainable industry alongside this project. The rebuild of the Plenty & Sons Steam engine designed and built for Cartela in 1912 at Newbury, England has already begun. This engine was purchased by the trust and a full rebuild is already underway, though the internal condition of this engine is in remarkably good condition. At this stage all repairs necessary to the engines lower assembly including chassis, crankshaft and thrust faces is complete. All work is done with the intent of producing a zero hours engine, with no embedded limitations due to age. As a way of respecting Cartela s wartime connection, the trust intends to engrave on the engine covers, the names of all Tasmanian navy personnel who lost their lives serving during World War one has been made to the RSL creating an enduring honour board. To provide power to this 5 Cartela Restoration Project SteamShip Cartela Trust

6 engine, it is proposed to install a pair of package boilers, modern boilers that will allow Cartela to readily meet the OH&S and fire safety legislative requirements for a commercial passenger vessel, while also allowing the flexibility to choose a more suitable fuel than coal. At the completion of the restoration program Cartela will return to her homeport as a fully functioning steam powered excursion vessel, providing Tasmania with a unique tourism attraction in operation. In this role she will provide a landmark attraction that links the Sullivans Cove tourist precinct with the Upper Derwent and Huon valleys. Having just had her survey suspended, now is the ideal time to attend to her refit, before imposed inactivity leads to substantial deterioration. If begun at this time a fully refreshed Cartela would be able to participate in centenary of Armistice day commemorations in 2018 anywhere on the eastern seaboard of Australia. 6 Cartela Restoration Project SteamShip Cartela Trust

7 3. Summary of Reports (i) Executive Summary, Benefit Cost Analysis This report was provided by Martin Farley, economist at Creating Preferred Futures. Public investment in the restoration of the Cartela is sound and strong socio-economic investment, indicating it provides value for money. The strong benefit/cost relationship is derived from both the restoration project and the subsequent operations of the Cartela from Brooke St Pier in Hobart as a key maritime heritage and visitation experience. There is a large margin of safety for the investment of public funds. 4% Discount Rate 7% Discount Rate Total Benefit $19.613m $16.569m Total Cost $4.630m $4.387m Benefit / Cost Ratio NPV (Benefit-Cost) $14.983m $12.182m The above summary table demonstrates significant monetised benefit from the investment in restoration of the Cartela. Wider benefit/cost analysis (BCA) considers flow-on economic and social benefits, consequently the monetised element of the analysis significantly underestimates the value of the Cartela investment, specifically: Restoration of the Cartela will create a high value marine heritage asset held in Trust for the Tasmanian community, particularly as it will be ready for use, not a static exemplar; 7 Cartela Restoration Project SteamShip Cartela Trust

8 Restoration will enable 4 apprentices to be trained, adding to the critical mass of boatbuilding capacity within the State, similarly volunteer steam engine operators will add to the community s capacity to continue to develop associated experiences; Restoration of a high profile vessel will reinforce Tasmania s position as both a centre for restoration of wooden vessels but also for routine maintenance and construction of wooden boats. Location and high quality interpretation of the Cartela at Brooke St Pier will enhance the role of Hobart s waterfront as a key visitor attraction. Restoration at Franklin will create significant opportunity, potential jobs and activity in a community severely disadvantaged by the collapse of the traditional timber industry and the current IGA process. Location at Franklin will provide a complementary attraction to others such as Tahune, reinforcing the linkages between the forest and such vessels in addition to helping establish the Franklin Wharf as a further attractor in the region. The subsequent operations of the Cartela will provide a stream of ongoing direct and indirect employment rising from 14 in year one of operations to 19 in year 16 (ii) Executive Summary, Significance Statement This report was prepared by Elizabeth Adkins Maritime Heritage Co-ordinator, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and Tasmanian Maritime Museum. The purpose of this study is to confirm that the heritage significance of Cartela meets preservation criteria. These criteria are tightly specified providing a framework for assessment of all items of heritage value. The assessment process is referred to as Significance 2.0 and is recognised throughout the museum professional s community. The last known remaining Tasmanian river steamer, Cartela meets 8 out of a possible 8 Significance 2.0 criteria. Playing an essential role in serving remote coastal and Hobartian communities and agriculture, Cartela also played a role in WWI as a patrol boat for the Derwent estuary and assisted the growing tourism industry. Built by an iconic Hobart shipbuilding company, Cartela was regarded as the finest and fastest river steamer of her class and era in Tasmania, and she can be used for research to illustrate local shipbuilding and design techniques. As a working vessel she has strong ties to the local community, with many people remembering excursions on Cartela fondly. Whilst having been in survey for 99 years, she is also comparatively unchanged and intact, beyond a change of engine, and is in good condition for a vessel of her age. Cartela s provenance can be traced from first concepts to her current owners. As an 8 Cartela Restoration Project SteamShip Cartela Trust

9 operational vessel, Cartela can be used to interpret not only river steamers and wooden shipbuilding traditions in southern Tasmania, but also our water-ways and coastal communities. It is worth noting that at the time this report was prepared it was not recognised that Cartela was one of only two surviving vessels with Royal Australian Navy connection to World War One. (iii) Executive Summary, Conservation Management Plan This Report was prepared by Mike Nash, Maritime Archaeologist, Parks Tasmania and co-authored by Mike Staples a noted timber structure analysist. The report considers the importance of Cartela as a whole, and individual features of the vessel that are of noteworthy interest. It considers, and outlines a means of ensuring that these features are preserved in any restoration program. Cartela was one of a large number of similar vessels constructed locally at a time when shipbuilding in Tasmania was recognised as a major industry. Timbers that formed her frames are referred to as double sawn futtocks. These define a form of construction that is unusual in the present time and illustrate a method of construction unlikely to be duplicated with current technology. This report identifies how Cartela demonstrates a claim to be covered by four criteria within the Tasmanian Cultural Heritage Act a) It is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Tasmania s history The expansion of settlement in Tasmania relied heavily on access to the sea for transport, trade and communications. This was most completely demonstrated by the occupation of the districts south of Hobart, which were difficult to reach overland but were readily accessible by extensive waterways such as the D Entrecasteaux Channel. Sailing and steam vessels provided the economic links between isolated settlements and the capital port of Hobart that assisted in the development of the region. The Cartela is able to demonstrate the pattern of this regional development through its involvement in the coastal trade to Hobart. As an excursion vessel working out of Hobart the Cartela has played a significant and continuing role in the development of the Tasmanian tourism industry since the early 20th century. The Cartela is also representative of the Tasmanian shipbuilding industry, which had a substantial role in the State s early economy. b) It demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Tasmania s heritage 9 Cartela Restoration Project SteamShip Cartela Trust

10 Although hundreds of timber-hulled vessels were built in Tasmania during the 19th and early 20th centuries only a handful still remain intact. In the Tasmanian context the Cartela is the only timber steamship hull that remains in State waters, and has survived largely because it was known to be the best example of its kind. The Cartela has state and national significance as one of the oldest screw driven vessels in Australia and the oldest operating passenger vessel in the country. It also has the longest continual commercial career of any vessel in Australia. e) It is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement The Cartela represents a type of timber-hulled steamship developed in Tasmania during the late 19th century, which was designed to work in the waterways of south-eastern Tasmania and the Tamar River in the State s north. As dual cargo and passenger carrying vessels the river steamers had a distinctive profile and hull shape, and were highly powered to keep to tight schedules. By the time the Cartela was built in 1912 the Tasmanian river steamer design had reached the pinnacle of its evolutionary process. The Cartela demonstrates many of the characteristics of the original Tasmanian river steamer design, including examples of the timber construction methods and joinery of the period. It is also an excellent example of adaptive reuse, where new propulsion and safety features have not intruded on the outward appearance of the vessel. f) It has strong or special meaning for any group or community because of social, cultural or spiritual associations As the only working vessel of the early 20th century existing in Tasmania the Cartela has very strong associations for the maritime community, particularly in Hobart and south-eastern Tasmania. Many residents of Hobart and the Channel communities would also have travelled on the vessel during their lifetimes. The Roche family, as owners or part owners of the Cartela for the last 60 years have continuing association with the vessel to the present day. As a participant in many Royal Hobart Regattas and other maritime celebrations since 1913 the Cartela also has a direct and continuing linkage with one of Tasmania s oldest community events. (iv) Executive Summary, Condition Report Mike Staples has extensive experience in analysis of timber structures and has undertaken condition reports on Mawson s hut in Antarctica for the Australian Government, and been engaged on similar maritime studies for the Australian National Maritime Museum. Mike engaged in a systematic study on Cartela s structure reporting on authenticity, originality and structural soundness of the entire vessel. This study examined the vessel as a collection of component parts, where possible, examining each individual timber or other element, and assessing the level of 10 Cartela Restoration Project SteamShip Cartela Trust

11 decomposition and deterioration that has occurred to that member. The breadth of this report provides a comprehensive picture of the overall condition of the vessel as well as the state on all individual structural members. A detailed photographic record compiled at the same time provides an important baseline of the vessel as a witness of Cartela at that point in her long career. This report was also a catalyst for a collection of audio interviews with John Duffy who as a crew member for close to 40 years was intimately involved with any modification to the vessel between the 1960 s and Michael Roche has substantially contributed to the Condition report by offering his observations via a series of audio interviews totalling many hours that illustrate the changes to the vessel over his lifetime. These observations were based on the condition report chapters and colour in the observations made by Mike Staples. Where changes to the vessel were noted, recollections of both John Duffy and Michael Roche will add considerably to the interpretation of the vessel when seeking to understand Tasmania s shipbuilding heritage. As an important heritage artefact that will be used to describe shipbuilding techniques of the early 1900 s Tasmanians, the Condition Report and audio histories collections will prove invaluable to future generations. This assessment allows a well found estimate of the materials that will be required to return Cartela s hull to her original strength and specification. Overall finding that though there were parts of the vessel that were showing some signs of decay the vessel exhibited a significant amount of originality that still display the original shipbuilders craft. (v) Executive Summary, Shipwrights Report David Nash was engaged to provide his assessment of the quantum of labour and materials that will be required to return Cartela s hull to sound condition. David s experience as the most suitable shipwright is undisputed, having extensive experience on large timber vessels, including One and All, and his own tall ship Yukon. Using both his own inspections and Mike Staples reports, David supplied a total materials list that is fully costed at the present rates. Additionally drawing on his experience working on similar vessels, he provided man-hour tables for each of the anticipated tasks and under consultation prepared a skills profile indicating the desirable total crew size. David Nash is suitably qualified to act as the leading shipwright on this project and has the ideal manner to act as the mentor and coach for the intended apprentices. It is recognised that incorporating 4 apprentices in a crew of only 8 skilled trades is an onerous task and one not underestimated by David. He shares SteamShip Cartela s vision for utilising this project to maximise the skills growth and training in this region, and is enthusiastic about moving this project to its implementation phase. 11 Cartela Restoration Project SteamShip Cartela Trust

12 This report offers insight to the various methods available of extracting the vessel from the water and the alternative options for scheduling the work. The options of, one time slipway, barge lift/dry dock, and commercial slipway are considered and he offers suggestion on how each can be best utilised depending on final location and project financing. There is analysis on the possible causes of any deterioration and indicates a means of ensuring they are not repeated. He is realistic about the possibility of discovering additional undetected damaged timbers and has offered advice on these impacts. This assessment strongly advises the consideration that all hull fastenings will need replacement as a security issue and has offered suggestion on means of dealing with this difficult technical situation. (vi) Executive Summary, Naval Architect Report Alan Muir is a highly experienced Naval Architect operating in northern Tasmania. Alan was asked to provide advice on those issues that would arise to ensure that a restored Cartela would meet the legislative requirements for a passenger-carrying vessel in the current licencing environment, without resorting to grandfathering provisions. Alan reported on stability and fire risk issues that will be questioned at the time of returning Cartela to everyday operation. This report confirms that Cartela will be able to meet the current legislation without requesting special provision due to age. 4. The Cartela project will: Be shovel ready, ready to go as soon as funding is secured. Generate an entirely new tourism experience with international appeal. Generate regional development, training, tourism & new industry. Provide a platform to reposition the Tasmania timber industry. Preserve the Australian naval connection to the ANZAC spirit. Reinforce Tasmania s market positioning for heritage preservation. Recognise the maritime dependence of Tasmania. Preserve an important part of the national heritage. Be enthusiastically supported by local government and the wider community. Cost just $1.25 million per year for 4 years while re-tasking existing funding. 12 Cartela Restoration Project SteamShip Cartela Trust

13 5. For full Detail All reports are available in full on the Cartela web site Cartela Restoration Project SteamShip Cartela Trust