Rescuers lowered onto stranded cargo ship in attempt to winch crew members to safety

A cargo ship has been stranded off the coast of Sydney amid bad weather and stormy conditions.

Helicopter missions to winch 21 people to safety were also called off due to the danger, with tugboats instead deployed to stabilise the drifting vessel.

“Cars fail, ships fail, that’s what happens sometimes at sea. Unfortunately, we just happen to be in atrocious conditions at the moment, we’ve got eight-metre swells, 30 knot winds, it’s atrocious... to be operating in,” John Finch, from the New South Wales Port Authority, said.

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