Grounded boat salvaged from beach

A salvage operation was under way yesterday for a boat with 1300 litres of fuel on board that ran aground on the Kaiko¯ ura coast over the weekend.

The wreck was about 20m from the gravel beach at Ingles Bay and stable when it was removed.

A boom was placed around the boat to contain oil and debris before it was hauled up on to the beach. The fuel will be removed before disposal of the wreck can begin.

Environment Canterbury regional on-scene commander Emma Parr said a small amount of diesel leaked from the vessel and had dispersed.

It is likely to take five to seven days for all debris to be removed.

The leisure boat, carrying a family of four, ran aground and became stuck on Saturday night.

Coastguard southern region manager Cheryl Moffat said the skipper noticed that the anchor was dragging and went to reposition it while sheltering from southerly winds on the northern side of the Kaiko¯ ura Peninsula.

‘‘Unfortunately, the smaller boat that they had on the back, the tow rope for that got caught around the propeller.

‘‘They managed to put the anchor back down, but it still wasn’t holding, and they drifted on to the rocks.’’

The skipper called for help, but before a Coastguard crew could set off, the family met them on shore, Moffat said. They were unharmed, though the two children were a little shaken up.

Kaiko¯ura locals helped to tow the boat to sheltered waters just metres from the shore on Sunday.

Canterbury Regional Council spokesperson Emma Parr said there was minimal damage to the reef from the impact.

The boat’s owner was working with his insurance company and salvor, who had been on site to assess the wreck.