After RH Houfe & Co ran into financial difficulties, in 1973 the ship was purchased by the Tasmanian Transport Commission. On 23 March 1974, it capsized and sank in the Yarra River, Melbourne while approaching its berth with its vehicle door partly open, with the loss of two crew members and many of her cargo of 2,000 sheep.[4][5][6] The ferry was heading upstream at 6 knots (6.9 mph; 11 km/h) when a crew member opened the stern door without the knowledge of the captain on the bridge.[7]
Following salvage and repair, the vessel spent 15 years serving King Island, before being bought by Bluebridge, where it provided inter-island ferry services between the North and South Islands between 1992 and 2004.[8] It was then sold to a Fijian shipping company, renamed Sinu-I-Wasa, running aground during Cyclone Winston in 2016.[9]
^Four-hour ordeal in sunken ship The Times 25 March 1974 page 7
^Transactions - North East Coast Institution of Engineers. North East Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders - 1989 "It may also be useful to recall the several ro-ro losses before that date, and especially the little-known precedent of the Straitsman, a ro-ro ferry which capsized and sank whilst approaching its berth with its vehicle door at least partly open."
^Oceanic Abstracts 1990- Issues 3-4 - Page 143 ... the Straitsman, a Bass Strait Ro-Ro ferry, suffered a similar fate whilst proceeding stem first towards its berth in the Yarrow river with the stem door open.
