pictured | Aurora Australis crew with Triple M's Brian Carlton and $10,000 for GM5FK
The Royal Hobart Hospital Children's Ward will benefit from a final generous donation made by the crew of the outgoing Aurora Australis.
Maritime Union of Australia members onboard the Aurora Australis (AA) Vessel in Hobart have raised $10,000 for Give Me 5 for Kids.
Today some of the AA crew members met with Triple M's Brian Carlton (pictured below) to hand over the cheque which will see the money go to the Children's Ward at the Royal Hobart Hospital.
The bright orange Aurora Australis has been a Hobart Icon for many years and consecutive crews have raised over $250,000 for different children charity's across the country. The MUA members on board chose Give Me 5 For Kids as their dedicated charity for 2020 with the money raised largely from the operation of a shop on board the AA.
The vessel finishes work this year and is planned to leave our coast soon, but many are hopeful it can transformed into a museum or an emergency vessel.
The Australian icebreaker was built by Carrington Slipways and launched in 1989 and while owned by P&O Maritime Services it's regularly chartered by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) for research cruises in Antarctic waters and to support Australian bases in Antarctica.
It hasn't been all smooth sailing for the AA however with a number of high profile incidents including in January 1999 when a fire broke out while en route to Antarctica. Leaking high pressure diesel ignited the hot STBD main engine causing a major fire. At the height of this fire there was zero visibility in the engine room and it was finally suppressed by the release of HALON fire suppression system. Power and propulsion was restored with the ship then able to return to Fremantle under its own power for major repairs.
In February 2016, the AA was damaged again when it ran aground in Horseshoe Harbour, near Mawson Station, Antarctica, during a blizzard. A shackle on a forward mooring line came undone, causing the other three lines to break and it took three days before AA was refloated and was able to return to Western Australia for repairs.
The AA's 31 years of service officially came to a close in March this year with it's final mission. The crew are completing clean up work before the arrival of a new ice breaker Nuyina .
Nuyina will have a massive presence in Hobart Harbour at 156 metres (512 ft) long compared to Aurora Australis at 94.91 metres. The ship will carry up to 160 crew and passengers, and a cargo capacity of 3,000 square metres (32,000 sq ft), including 96 shipping containers and is expected to be operational before the end of this year.
NOTE: In light of the circumstances around COVID-19, Southern Cross Austereo took the decision in 2020 to suspend all of our “Give Me 5 For Kids” fundraising activities indefinitely across Australia.
This decision was not made lightly, however SCA believes the health and safety of the community and our people is paramount at this time.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the suspension of all our events and fundraising, including all associated third-party events.