An empty 10m-long lifeboat from a Greek cargo ship has been retrieved off western Southland.
The large boat was spotted floating in Foveaux Strait, and could have posed a threat to other vessels in the notorious stretch of water.
It was salvaged by the Riverton Volunteer Coastguard, who despite having been involved in search and rescue operations for over 50 years have seen nothing of its kind before.
“It was quite a hard job because there was probably about five to six tonnes of water inside it, so it was a very slow tow - we were only towing at about three or four knots most of the way,” says rescue crew skipper Ross McKenzie.
The bright yellow boat was spotted in Foveaux Strait yesterday, but salvage teams had to wait for high tide this morning to bring the floating hazard into Riverton.
“[It is] quite dangerous at nights, especially because you just can't see boats like that," says Mr McKenzie, "and Foveaux Strait's a relatively busy, narrow stretch of water."
The lifeboat appears to have come off a Greek cargo ship, the Anangel Happiness, which mainly works in southeast Asia and has never been this far south.
The raft's covered in barnacles and seaweed, and may have been drifting in the ocean for months. It's not in great condition either - two windows are smashed and the rear hatch door is missing.
“On a commercial sense I don't think it's viable to keep it in service as a fishing vessel or as a life raft, it's probably beyond its use-by date,” says Noel Anderson of the Riverton Volunteer Coastguard.
Southland's Harbour Master is talking to the boat's Greek owners, but today's voyage was probably its last.
3 News
source: newshub archive
