On a clear summer night off Australia's southeast coast it was high drama at sea when a fishing trawler collided with a container ship almost 10 times its size.
And it seems ships crashing in Australian waters is an ongoing problem, putting the lives of fishermen at risk, the maritime safety watchdog says.
Investigation results released on Friday into the January 23 collision between the 32m NSW-based Saxon Onward and 294m Panamanian Beijing Bridge, raised a worrying trend.
"The (Australian Transport Safety Bureau) continues to see collisions between small vessels and trading ships on the Australian coast with at least 65 such collisions reported and 39 investigated since 1990," the report reads.
In the latest instance, both vessels were on auto-pilot in calm waters and the captains had gone to bed.
Beijing Bridge had slightly altered its course to Melbourne earlier in the evening, while Saxon Onward remained on course to Eden on the NSW far south coast, with its hold full of Tasmanian fish.
About midnight, and just southeast of Gabo Island, a lookout on board Beijing Bridge saw the fishing boat on a collision course, flashed a signal lamp and sounded a loud whistle.
Despite attempts to avoid a crash, the vessels collided.
"The trawler's port bow impacted the ship's starboard side ... then scraped down the ship's side," the bureau reported.
"The trawler heeled over sharply to starboard and took on some water before it righted itself, passed the ship's stern and drifted away."
There were no injuries and about six hours later the badly-damaged Saxon Onward reached Eden.
"The safety of fishermen and people in small boats continues to be a concern in terms of safety at sea," the bureau said.
"When fishing in waters off the Australian coast, fishing vessels regularly encounter large trading ships.
"When these vessels collide, a fishing vessel, being smaller than a ship, will almost always come off worse after a collision, often with potentially serious consequences to the lives of those onboard."
The ATSB's investigation of the crash found both ships knew about each other for about 30 minutes before the collision, but both acted too late. It did not apportion blame for the collision.
