A TOURIST boat, with passengers on board, has been rescued by the Metropolitan Fire Service after it was stranded on a sand bar near Outer Harbor on Friday afternoon.
The Port Princess was on a dolphin spotting cruise around the Port River when it was buffeted by strong winds and blown off course.
It became stranded on a sand bar, unable to free itself under its own power.
An MFS spokeswoman said a fire boat, The Gallantry, has now successfully attached a toe rope to the Port Princess and has lifted the vessel from the sand bar.
"The MFS Gallantry will toe the vessel half way down the Port River into calmer waters with tourists still safely aboard the Port Princess," she said.
"The rescue itself was postponed for approximately 10 minutes to allow a fuel tanker vessel to pass safely before The Gallantry assisted the tourist boat.
"It appears that the very windy conditions in the area had caused the tourist boat to run aground to the sand bar."
Yeh I know small things,amusing small minds!