Mystery anchor

An audible gasp rang out as the tip of a barnacle-clad anchor broke the surface of Wellington Harbour.

Hauled up by historic floating crane Hikitia, the 4.5 metre-long anchor rose from beside Queens Wharf on Saturday, rusted chain in tow.

Conservation work will be carried out on the anchor by the Maritime Archaeological Association and it will be re-sunk in the harbour in September.

Malcolm Mcgregor, of the Maritime Heritage Trust, hoped the anchor could be made a feature of the waterfront, dedicated to seamen who died during war.

Mystery surrounds the anchor. Despite studying it for 20 years, noone had been able to link it to a ship, Mcgregor said.

The patterns on the anchor indicate it is of British origin, and there is a chance it was used in Wellington Harbour as part of the mooring dock, from 1931 until 1988.

But where it was before that was anybody’s guess, Mcgregor said. ‘‘It’s safe to say it’s been underwater for a good 120 years.’’

The anchor was discovered further out in the harbour in 1995.

No resources were available to preserve it, so the best means of slowing corrosion was to put it back in the water where several other abandoned anchors lie.

‘‘We call it the anchor farm,’’ Mcgregor said.