War on harbour wrecks declared with push for clean-up of abandoned, derelict boats on Sydney Harbour

Concerns over environmental impacts and ‘visual pollution’ has sparked calls for tougher action to stop boat owners leaving their vessels to rust and decay on Sydney’s waterways.

A war on wrecks has been declared in a bid to clean the proliferation of decaying and abandoned vessels littering Sydney Harbour.

Concerns over environmental impacts and “visual pollution” has prompted calls for the NSW Government to take tougher action to stop boat owners leaving their vessels to rust and decay in Sydney’s waterways.

Mary Curran is among advocates leading a petition with the hope of encouraging the government to invest more resources into compliance action requiring vessels to be maintained.

She said hotspot areas for “junk boats” included Berrys Bay on the lower north shore and Snails Bay in the inner west.

“Some of the boats in the harbour haven’t moved for a decade and they’re causing water and visual pollution,” she said.

Derelict boats on Sydney Harbour have prompted a clean-up campaign.

“Due to rust, there are boats with paint falling off which has environmental impacts and when the boats do eventually sink it’s the taxpayers who are having to pay to have them salvaged.

“We want to make the harbour safe to swim and kayak and for the public to enjoy and one of the ways of doing that is making sure boats are properly looked after.”

Ms Curran said there was a lack of incentives to ensure vessels were maintained and not fall into disrepair.

A photo of a boat on Sydney Harbour.

“One of the problems is that the disposal of boats is extremely expensive and it can be cheaper for owners to leave them to rot and eventually sink,” she said.

The campaign comes after a string of recent boat sinkings in Sydney waterways left the NSW Government with hefty salvage bills.

At Waverton, the cost of hauling the 500,000kg Baragoola vessel which sank in 2022 cost taxpayers $4.9m.

And just last week, tender documents revealed the government forked out $206,865 to salvage and dispose of a sunken vessel from Clareville at Pittwater.

Advocates have launched the petition to parliament.

The petition is aiming to reach 20,000 signatures.

Stuart King, co-chair of Save our Sydney Harbour which has backed the campaign, is surveying Sydney waterways to identify the number of sunken boats.

In a single day last week, Mr King said the survey identified 84 derelict or potentially abandoned vessels east of the Sydney Harbour Bridge including two boats sinking off Manly and Darling Point.

He said ensuring derelict boats were removed could help address a huge demand for mooring space in Sydney Harbour waterways with waiting lists in some areas topping more than two years.

A photo of the Baragoola vessel which sank at Waverton in 2022.

The petition – launched to parliament this week – partly calls for abandoned boats to be cleared from Sydney’s waterways as well as independent environmental and visual impact assessments to be conducted before permitting vessels to be moored in the bays and coves of Sydney Harbour.

The petition has also called for action on derelict jetties and piles that exist in Sydney Harbour waters which the petition describes as unsightly and often dangerous.

The petition also calls for more to be done to address the state of jetties and piles on the harbour.

Transport for NSW in a statement said NSW Maritime “takes an active approach to auditing boats on moorings”, with a statewide audit of moorings carried out between March and September each year.

“These audits are conducted by our boating safety officers with the aim of increasing mooring compliance, safeguarding the marine environment, and improving waterway safety and access,” a spokeswoman said.

“Vessel owners are subject to heavy fines if they are found to be non-compliant with the relevant marine legislation, plus they can be liable for the cost of removing and disposing of their derelict vessel.”

It is understood there are more than 6100 private moorings in Sydney Harbour and NSW Maritime aims to audit about 50 per cent of those moorings each year.