Unmanned vessel washes up in Australia - two years after Bluff launch

The 450kg drone was found washed up at Waratah Bay in Victoria.
The 450kg drone was found washed up at Waratah Bay in Victoria. Photo credit: Facebook / Victoria Police

A very "strange" vessel launched in New Zealand has been found after 18 months lost at sea.

The 450kg drone was found washed up at Waratah Bay in Victoria, Australia on Monday.

In 2019, California-based company Saildrone, launched three drones from Bluff on a mission to sail around Antarctica researching krill numbers.

Posting a series of photos on Facebook, Victoria Police said those that found the barnacle-covered vessel were "stunned as mullets".

After launching from the South Island of New Zealand in January 2019, the vessel set off to Antarctica.

Unfortunately, the contact was lost as it struck an iceberg between Antarctica and Cape Horn.

Waratah Bay Marine Rescue senior skipper Greg Mouldings said he couldn't believe his eyes when it was found.

"When I got to the beach last night, I thought we'd stumbled across something extraordinary but little did I know, we'd solved a longstanding mystery," he said.

"I spoke with its owner this afternoon, who due to the coronavirus pandemic is unable to travel from the USA and organise retrieval. He was absolutely ecstatic that the vessel had been found and is hopeful that some of the data it has been collecting will be able to be retrieved."

The Marine Search and Rescue team are now working with locals to remove the 450kg drone.