Party boat Seadeck plunged into administration under mounting debts

The $5 million party boat Seadeck — a favourite among glamorous Sydney socialites and organised crime figures — has stopped taking bookings.

Sydney Harbour party boat Seadeck was loved in equal measure by the city’s glamorous social set and its organised crime figures.

But the $5 million charter boat has stopped taking bookings after its operation was plunged into admin­istration with debts of up to $14 million.

The 45m cruiser cat­ered for high-end tastes and was a favourite among crime figures, including Michael Ibrahim who, according to police recordings tendered in court, booked out the entire boat on occasion for alcohol and drug-fuelled parties, and drug boss Mostafa Dib.

Administrators from ­forensic accounting firm Condon Associates were ­appointed to the three companies that own the party boat and run the company on March 3 this year.

At the heart of the companies’ problems were infighting that resulted in legal action, and restricted trading due to COVID-19 restrictions, the administrator’s ­report says.

Seadeck will be a permanent party boat on the harbour this summer.

The boat is moored at Cockatoo Island and was being held by the owners of a marina this year while they chased Seadeck’s owners for $222,242 in unpaid berthing, storage and mooring fees.

According to the administrator’s report, Seadeck was owned and run by multiple companies that have turned on each other and are now at war in court.

One of the key breakdowns was the claimed failure of one company to secure a licence for 800 people, which left the boat only able to service 450.

This “resulted in a significantly reduced return” financially and “appeared to be the catalyst for the breakdown in the relationship between the joint ventures”, the administrator’s report says.

Two of the companies went to the Federal Court of Australia, where Justice Stephen Rares, on May 9, 2019, terminated the joint venture agreement.

Michael Ibrahim was captured on phone taps planning to take ownership of the boat.

Mostafa Dib, aka Mustapha Dib, was also a patron on Seadeck.

However, the litigation is ongoing, the report says.

COVID-19 restrictions also meant it could not trade between March 2020 and November 2020.

The companies’ financial records showed mountains of debts.

One of the companies still owes $32,296 in wages to ­employees.

The companies also owe $14 million to secured and unsecured creditors.

Michael Ibrahim liked Seadeck so much, he was captured on police phone taps hatching a plan to take ownership of the boat, possibly with the help of the ­Nomads bikie gang.

In a call on March 8, 2017, where a car salesman asked if he was going to take over 10 per cent of Seadeck, Ibrahim corrected him.

Seadeck will not be a permanent party boat on the Harbour in the near future.

Designer Camilla Franks did not party with Michael Ibrahim on Seadeck but attended a fashion show event on the boat in 2016. Pic: Caroline McCredie/Getty Images

“I’m planning to take the whole boat,” he said.

The salesman replied: “I forgot who I’m talking to.”

Ibrahim, who is now in jail for a maximum 30 years after masterminding an attempt to smuggle almost two tonnes of drugs into Australia, would celebrate victories by booking VIP table packages, which max out at $2000 for 10 seats on the top deck. This bought two 750ml bottles of Ciroc vodka, one bottle of Moet Chandon, four Red Bulls, olives and spiced nuts, and a waitress.

On March 12, 2017, Ibrahim was caught on a phone tap telling an associate he had been partying on Seadeck with drug boss Mostafa Dib and underworld figure Kemel “Blackie” Barakat.