A cargo ship with 21 crew on board has lost power off the Royal National Park, south of Sydney.
The crew are stranded and will need to be evacuated by helicopter.
Severe weather battering Greater Sydney is making the rescue difficult.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said emergency services were on their way to the cargo ship to try and airlift to safety eight non-essential crew.
“It is obviously a very precarious position and our thoughts are with those on board,” he said.
The ship is being battered by heavy rain and strong winds, part of a deluge affecting a 500km stretch of coast all the way from Newcastle to Bateman’s Bay in the state’s south.
Bureau of Meteorology [BOM] spokesman Jonathan Howe said those across Sydney are currently experiencing “a little bit of reprieve in the rain”, but a gale warning and severe weather warning remain current.
A police spokesperson said the vessel lost power and was drifting towards the cliffs at the Royal National Park not long after it left Wollongong at about 7:30am.
The ship is now double anchored about 1km off the coast, and authorities believe a tugboat that has just arrived on the scene will prevent it from being pushed towards the cliffs.
A second tugboat is expected to arrive in about two hours.
“My understanding is that the tugboat that is being sent has the capacity to tow it further to sea and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority will co-ordinate the resources needed to get it under way out of its own power,” he said.
A plan to airlift the crew has been abandoned as too dangerous for the time being, he said.
More to come.
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