A collision between the private cruiser ''Merinda'' and the Sydney HarbourCat ''Pam Burridge'', which occurred on 28 March 2007 near the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

, claimed the lives of four members of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

ice skating Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...

elite, and injured two other people. The skaters were on board the nine-metre motor cruiser ''Merinda'' to celebrate the national team's performance at the World Championships in Tokyo the week before.

Description

Fourteen-year-old Morgan Innes, who had won the 2006 Queensland Intermediate Ladies Championship and was placed seventh at the 2006 Australian Championships in the novice ladies division, was killed along with ice skating judges Simone Moore and Alan Blinn, and 45-year-old Sydney man James Engert on the sightseeing trip when the cabin cruiser collided with the

Sydney Ferries Sydney Ferries is the public transport ferry network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales. Services operate on Sydney Harbour and the connecting Parramatta River. The network is controlled by the New South Wales Government's transport a ...

Harbour Cat ''Pam Burridge'' just before 11 pm. Also injured in the crash was Innes's coach

Liz Cain Elizabeth Jane "Liz" Cain (born 29 December 1962 in Sydney) is an Australian former pair skater and current figure skating coach. With brother Peter Cain, she is the 1976 World Junior bronze medalist and four time Australian national champio ...

who represented Australia in the 1980 Winter Olympic Games; Cain's leg had to be amputated. Innes's body was missing for five days before it was discovered on 2 April by a police dive team 200 metres from the crash site. In April 2007, Innes's parents established the Morgan Innes Foundation, which raises funds to help young ice skaters pursue their profession. In 2010, the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

banned the wearing of a yellow bracelet by Australian Olympic figure skater

Cheltzie Lee Cheltzie Lee (born 21 April 1993) is an Australian former competitive figure skater. She is the 2010 national champion and represented Australia at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. She also competed at seven ISU Championships, achieving ...

to honour Innes, deeming the bracelet a sponsorship item. Lee had worn the bracelet since 2007 when she competed and trained, including international meets.

References

Ferry transport in Sydney Shipwrecks of New South Wales Sydney Harbour {{Transport-accident-stub