Community
13 January, 2025
$1m to remove wreck
THE removal of a derelict ship in Trinity Inlet is to cost more than $1 million.
Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) has engaged local business Carpentaria Contracting to remove the rusting, dilapidated 49m ex-general cargo supply vessel Endeavour Bay, which has been anchored in Trinity Inlet since 2020.
As the state’s maritime regulator, MSQ has acted over concerns held by the regional harbour master that the deteriorating vessel could sink and break up, causing a significant risk to the environment, particularly if affected by heavy weather in the storm and cyclone season.
The contract to remove the ship is $1,075,000.
A MSQ spokesman said MSQ would monitor the operation onsite to ensure any discharge from the ship was contained.
“The maritime regulator anticipates the ship will be removed by around mid-March 2025,” he said.
“MSQ had been monitoring the ship’s condition and negotiating with its owner to honour his legal obligations to ensure his vessel is seaworthy, to ensure the vessel is not at risk of breaking up and causing pollution to Trinity Inlet.
“Having not reached an agreeable outcome, MSQ has intervened and will now remove the vessel from Queensland waters.
“The owner is still responsible for these costs and MSQ will pursue the owner for them, including through the courts if required. Those negotiations continue.”
Acting MSQ general manager Jennifer Tumbers said the Endeavour Bay “is a decaying vessel anchored in Trinity Inlet Cairns, that has been of concern to MSQ for some time”.
“MSQ has been actively engaging with its owner to accept his legal responsibilities to ensure the vessel is seaworthy, and not a risk of breaking up and causing both environmental harm and a hazard to navigation for other vessels,” she said.
“That process has not yet been successful, so in view of the current cyclone season and the vessel’s ongoing deterioration, as the state’s maritime regulator, MSQ has acted to protect the marine environment.
“In August 2024, MSQ intervened and forcibly removed around 35 tonnes of pollutants.
"With the owner still not complying with further directions about seaworthiness of his vessel, MSQ has now engaged a contractor to remove the ship from Trinity Inlet, under the Queensland Government’s War on Wrecks program.
“Once the removal is complete, MSQ will take direct action to recover costs and hold the owner legally accountable.
“The message is clear – owners of unseaworthy vessels cannot simply walk away from them and expect the government to remedy the situation and pick up the tab.”
