Yacht destroyed by fire: What else happened the night Scoundrel burned on Main Beach, Emu Park
In a shock twist, new details have emerged about what happened on the night last week a yacht was suspiciously destroyed by fire on a Capricorn Coast beach. Here’s the latest.
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New details have emerged about criminal activities which occurred on the night a yacht was suspiciously destroyed by fire on a Capricorn Coast beach last week.
The unoccupied 15.2m vessel Scoundrel burst into flames while grounded on Main Beach, Emu Park, in the early hours of November 24 - just days before an authority-ordered deadline for its removal.
The owner of the yacht is not accused of any wrongdoing in relation to the fire.
While a police investigation into the yacht blaze remains ongoing, this publication can reveal details of crimes that happened in the Capricorn Coast area on the night the Scoundrel went up in flames, including another fire incident.
After police and fire-fighters were called to the Scoundrel blaze about 1am on Thursday, some hours later at 4.30am, police were called to an unoccupied vehicle on fire at Mulambin Beach, Yeppoon.
A Queensland Police Service spokesman confirmed the vehicle, a Mitsubishi Triton, had been stolen from Yeppoon earlier in the night.
“Queensland Fire and Emergency Services extinguished the (vehicle) fire and police investigations are ongoing,” the QPS spokesman said.
A Livingstone Shire Council spokeswoman confirmed the Triton found burned on Mulambin Beach was one of three utes stolen from the council’s Yeppoon depot under the cover of darkness.
“Police have been notified (about the ute thefts) and are investigating,” the council spokeswoman said.
The fate of the other two stolen council utes remains unknown.
This publication also received a report that a school at Yeppoon was broken into on the same night as the Scoundrel fire, however a police spokesman said no record of such an incident could be found on the QPS investigation database.
When asked about whether the incidents that occurred overnight November 23/24 could be linked, the police spokesman said: “At this time, there does not appear to be a link between the boat and car fires, however these incidents do still remain ongoing investigations.”
In relation to the Scoundrel fire, the Livingstone Shire Council spokeswoman said the council had CCTV in Kerr Park at Emu Park but that vision did not extend to the beach area.
The Scoundrel had been grounded on Main Beach, Emu Park - not far from the Emu Park Surf Lifesaving Club and its popular facilities - since October 10.
This publication understands that Maritime Safety Queensland issued a first direction to the Scoundrel’s owner to remove the yacht from Queensland waters by 4pm on October 28.
It’s understood that when that deadline passed with no action, MSQ issued a new direction to remove the yacht by 4pm on November 28.
On the morning of Friday, November 25, the burned yacht remained on the beach (pictured and in video above) and some parts of it looked susceptible to breaking up under big tides or deteriorating weather conditions.
On Friday afternoon, the Livingstone Shire Council spokeswoman said the yacht’s owner was aware of their responsibilities to remove the vessel and clean the site, and was “being cooperative”.
“The owner will be liaising directly with contractors to arrange for the removal and clean-up of the site,” she said.
By the end of the day on Friday, the yacht had been removed and the beach cleaned of debris.
On Saturday, an Emu Park resident said the removal and clean-up operation had to be done on Friday ahead of a king tide on Saturday morning which would have placed the damaged yacht at risk of breaking up into the ocean.
Maritime Safety Queensland general manager Kell Dillon confirmed the Scoundrel and related debris was removed by a contractor engaged by the yacht’s owner.
“The contractor will continue to monitor the beach over the next two weeks to ensure removal of any further debris washing up from the vessel,” Mr Dillon said.
“MSQ will liaise with all relevant state and local government agencies to ensure there is no lasting pollution from the incident.”
Anyone with information on the yacht fire or the stolen vehicles is encouraged to contact police or Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.
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