Ill-fated trawler lodged on reef

KRISTIN EDGE | 6th March 2008

A DAMAGED fishing boat remained stuck fast on a Far North reef yesterday as a salvage team worked on a plan to get the vessel to shore.

The steel-hulled, 18m Seawyf was firmly lodged and listing to port after it crashed into Fair Way Reef, three nautical miles (5.5km) from the Mangonui Harbour entrance, in bad weather on Tuesday.

Officials say it could take days to refloat the Northland-owned vessel, and it will be a difficult operation due to the exposed site and damage to the boat's hull.

Their most immediate concern was to pump 2400 litres of diesel from two aft tanks.

Northland Regional Council harbourmaster Ian Niblock said despite the damage and extensive flooding, the largest two of its four fuel tanks were in no imminent danger of rupturing.

However, yesterday's inspection revealed about 600 litres of diesel had escaped from two smaller fuel tanks in the vessel's bow, creating a 2km-long slick that broke up in the rough conditions.

"The salvage team is currently calculating how it can introduce buoyancy into the hull to help float the boat and will also be making inquiries to ascertain what tugs are available to help pull it off the reef," Mr Niblock said.

He said the Seawyf was not in any immediate danger of falling off the reef.

A Maritime New Zealand safety inspector visited the scene and a preliminary assessment would be carried out before a decision was made about whether a formal investigation would be launched.

Spokesman Ross Henderson said investigations would determine whether there were safety lessons to be learnt, which could help prevent future accidents.

"It's still too early to determine what the cause of the grounding was, and we'll be making no further comment on the incident until inquiries are complete and all the information is assessed," Mr Henderson said.

It's not the first time the fishing boat Seawyf has struck trouble.

On August 26, 2005, Seawyf, with a skipper and two crew on board, left Port Nelson for fishing grounds near Kapiti Island, via the French Pass.

The Seawyf grounded in French Pass at 2.25am, after the skipper realised the rudder was not responding to the helm. He took preventive action but could not stop the boat hitting rocks.

The skipper cited steering failure as the cause of the grounding and, despite attempts to refloat the Seawyf, he had to call for help. The Seawyf was refloated and towed back to Nelson.

An investigation into the grounding found bolts attached to the tiller arm had not been tightened to stop them coming loose. It recommended additional safety inspections before leaving port, especially when facing restricted waterways such as French Pass.

Seawyf has changed owners since then and is now registered with La Peche in Auckland.