As flames licked the floor and engine casing, threatening to engulf the entire engine room, Border Force officers raced to extinguish the fire. The Cape York limped back to Darwin on a single engine, leaving its patch of ocean unguarded.
About 48 hours later, news broke of the arrival of the 39 foreigners. But the Cape York’s problems stayed secret.
“Had there not been a fire, the asylum seekers would have been located,” a former Border Force Cape-class crew member told this masthead, speaking anonymously because it is an offence under Operation Sovereign Borders secrecy laws to speak to the media.