She’s a big job - boat salvage at Thames wharf will be ‘quite a project’

Monday, 13 April 2026

It is too early to say how a 45-ft steel boat sunk in Thames Wharf on Sunday but it will be a big job to salvage it, Waikato’s regional harbour master says.

“The vessel that sunk at Thames is really just in the assessment phase for us,’’ Waikato Harbourmaster Chris Bredenbeck told the Waikato Times on Monday, confirming it would require a “significant salvage’’ project to deal with the 30-tonne commercial vessel.

He said the vessel owners are responsible for dealing with the wreckage, including insurance and recovery.

“That's going to be be quite a project.”

A team consisting of a maritime officer, iwi, Thames Coromandel District Council and a marine surveyor carried out a situation assessment on Monday and the Harbourmaster is waiting for their report.

Fortunately, the vessel was non-operational, so there are 'very few hydrocarbons on board,' eliminating a major oil leakage concern.

Although the sunken, visible boat is a risk, the area is low-use and measures will be taken to ensure people are aware of the hazard, he said.

Addressing the wider effects of this week’s cyclone, he noted that there had been fewer impacts than in previous significant weather events.

“Things have gone really well. We're really happy that we were able to see kind of people hunkering down and and staying away from the waterways, which is important.’’

He also put that down to the Harbourmaster team pro-actively checking moorings.

“The team's proactive work, which involved checking the condition of top ropes and other connections on moorings in the days leading up to the weather, was successful, as no vessels broke off their moorings over the weekend. The next week will be focused on assessing all harbours and channels to ensure all buoys and aids to navigation are in good condition and in place.’’

While there are no specific warnings for shipping, boaties should be mindful of likely debris in the water, he said.