Maritime Safety Queensland wages its ‘War on Wrecks’ in Trinity Inlet with plans to remove the Endeavour Bay in 2025
A derelict and decaying 49m, 58-year-old former fishing support vessel will be towed by tug from Trinity Inlet to Papua New Guinea as part of a million-dollar War on Wrecks contract secured by a Cairns contractor.
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A large rusting, derelict vessel, Endeavour Bay, will be removed from Trinity Inlet this year in a million-dollar salvage operation by local contractors as part of a Maritime Safety Queensland’s War on Wrecks.
MSQ announced on Tuesday it had engaged Carpentaria Marine Services to remove the 49-metre, 58-year-old vessel, Endeavour Bay, anchored in Trinity Inlet, which they believed was a risk of polluting the environment.
The organisation also said in a statement that it will pursue the vessel owner over salvage and removal costs, estimated to be more than $1m.
The ex-general cargo supply vessel Endeavour Bay has been anchored in Trinity Inlet since 2020.
The Endeavour Bay was a fishing support vessel and part of Sea Swift’s fleet for many years.
A spokesman for Sea Swift said the company sold the vessel in October 2020 and the company have had no further connection with the vessel since the sale.
A spokesman for MSQ said, as the state’s maritime regulator, it had acted over concerns held by the Regional Harbour Master (Cairns) that the deteriorating vessel could sink and break up, creating a safety hazard and causing a significant risk to the environment, particularly if affected by heavy weather in the storm and cyclone season.
Carpentaria Marine Services managing director and owner Vance Wallin said the company had removed close to 20 wrecks from Far Northern waters since 2020, including 12 wrecks as part of the War on Wrecks program, two decommissioned ferries, and two large illegal fishing vessels in and around the Torres Strait.
He said the company had also removed a 400-tonne sunken vessel from Trinity Inlet in the recent past.
“We will be engaging marine surveyors to make sure the vessel is seaworthy then get a sign-off from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority to move the Endeavour Bay as a ‘dead ship’,” Mr Wallin said.
He said the vessel would need to be towed by tug to a slipway in Papua New Guinea for safe salvage and disposal.
Acting Maritime Safety Queensland general manager Jennifer Tumbers said the state of the Endeavour Bay had been of concern to MSQ for some time.
“MSQ has been actively engaging with the owner 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,” Ms Tumbers 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.”
She said MSQ had been monitoring the ship’s conditions and, in August 2024, around 35 tonnes of pollutants were forcibly removed from the vessel.
MSQ had 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,” said Ms Tumbers.
“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.”
The maritime regulator anticipates the ship will be removed in March 2025.
An MSQ spokesman said they believed the owner was still responsible for the removal costs, and MSQ would pursue the owner for them, including through the courts if required.
Those negotiations continue.
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Originally published as Maritime Safety Queensland wages its ‘War on Wrecks’ in Trinity Inlet with plans to remove the Endeavour Bay in 2025
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