Wreckage from a sunken luxury yacht at a central Queensland beach is expected to be completely cleared by authorities today, after a four-day clean-up effort, but it's still not clear who will foot the bill.
Maritime Safety Queensland [MSQ] legally took possession of the yacht last Friday, after the owner failed to retrieve the sunken vessel that had been grounded at Lammemoor beach for more than two weeks.
According to the Yeppoon Coast Guard, the boat was removed from the local marina for being unregistered on May 11, and then began taking on water in rough seas the following day.
MSQ General Manager Kell Dillon said he could not detail the cost of the recovery operation, due to commercial arrangements, but said these things "weren't cheap".
"But in the interest of the public, it was very clear that we needed to get rid of that as fast as we could, so we moved pretty quickly on it," Mr Dillon said.
"There are provisions I can't really go into [for] this particular case, because there are all kinds of commercial in confidence [matters], and levels of legal things going on.
"[That's why] we encourage the owner to take charge themselves, but sometimes we have to step in because [if] there's an uncertain time frame these things can sometimes dragged on for weeks and months."
The MSQ was not able to detail the value of the vessel before it was damaged.
What does the law say?
Maritime lawyer and James Cook University lecturer Dr Anthony Marinac said if anyone was operating a vessel of more than 15 metres in Queensland, they were required to have environmental insurance.
"Which is intended to provide a source of finance to cover just these sorts of clean-up operations," Mr Marinac said.
"There's a general principle [of] law, that if your vessel causes harm to the environment, then you're required to do something about it.
"[Though] It can be difficult to bring about liability in those situations.
"In Queensland we've seen the government undertaking what's called the "war on wrecks" to go up and down the coast, identifying essentially wrecked or abandoned vessels that have just been left there.
MSQ said it was still investigating whether the vessel was insured or not, in conjunction with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
'Challenging' operation
Mr Dillon said it had been quite difficult for contractors to clean up the 27-metre-long yacht and its debris.
"Because of where it ended up on the beach, it was restricted by tides … so we had to really worked between the tides, so that restricted our daily activity," Mr Dillon said.
Heavy machinery was brought in from Gladstone, to deconstruct the boat over the course of the week.
The vessel was then cut in half with the lighter section, forward of the machinery room, removed from the beach.
"[That] was the best way to get rid of it quickly," Mr Dillon said.
There had been concern from local environmental groups and residents about debris washing up before and during the course of the clean-up.
Mr Dillon said the tide coming in and the weather "giving the boat a good beating" made the process of containing debris more difficult.
"A lot of [the debris] is linings and other bits and pieces, I get it doesn't look good in the in the short term, [and] it's not ideal," he said.
MSQ confirmed the contractor would continue monitoring the beach over the next two months to collect any debris that washed ashore.
Five waste skip bins full of debris were removed after the first day of clearing the yacht.
In response to community concern that oil had leaked from the vessel, Mr Dillon said if there was any leakage it was "very minor".
"Nothing substantial, that's for sure, and we were certainly ready to go [with booms] … but, but there was no real need for [them], there wasn't anything significant coming out of it, [anything] that did dissipated pretty quickly," he said.
Mr Dillon thanked the public for their patience throughout the clean-up.
