[2][3] While waiting in the open ocean outside Newcastle harbour to load coal, Pasha Bulker ran aground during a major storm on 8 June 2007 on Nobbys Beach, New South Wales, Australia.

[2][4][5] Early on the morning of 8 June 2007, Newcastle Port Corporation radioed the 56 moored ships waiting off the coast to load coal to warn them to move out to sea to escape an approaching storm.

[10] Its location on a popular beach and close proximity to the Newcastle CBD made Pasha Bulker a tourist destination and precipitated a minor economic boom.

Greenpeace stated that the protest was motivated by unnamed "scientists tell[ing] us that storm surges of the type that we saw earlier this month are something that we can expect more of as a result of climate change.

Salvage investigators confirmed on 11 June 2007 that the outer shell of the ship's double hull had been breached and was taking on water on the starboard side.

[citation needed] The plan to salvage Pasha Bulker used anchors laid out at sea, which the ship was to use to then winch itself seawards, and three tug boats towing it with the aim of dragging the bow over a rock reef.

University of Sydney Honorary Associate Professor Rob Wheen suggested liquefying the sand under the ship by pumping seawater into it.

[citation needed] Final preparations to refloat the ship began on 28 June 2007 when the ballast water, added earlier to stabilise the vessel, was pumped out to aid buoyancy.

At around 5:30 p.m. AEST the tug boats began pulling on the lines attached to the bow on the port side and the ship appeared to move for the first time.

[23] An ocean swell up to 4 m (13 ft) pounded the ship and caused the bow to move back and forth even when tethered to the tug boats.

Ballast water was reloaded to help preserve the initial gains that were made and the next attempt to move the ship was deferred to the evening of 1 July 2007 to allow salvage engineers more time to secure new cables to the tugs and between the winches and sea anchors.

It was later determined that the liquid was simply lubricating oil expelled from the suspended propeller and snapped rudder; it was washed into the ocean with westerly winds.

[28] It was then held 11 nautical miles (20 km) from the Newcastle shoreline and inspected by divers for oil spills and to determine the extent of the hull damage.

The report said the master failed to realise the impact of the forecast weather in the anchorage even though wind warnings were received as early as 3 June 2007.

Four kilometres out to sea the Japanese salvage tug Koyo Maru connected lines to Pasha Bulker to tow it back to Japan.