Wollongong Harbour Sunken Yacht Salvage

Commercial Diving Services Pty Ltd were engaged by local government to urgently salvage a sunken steel hull 9m yacht within Wollongong Harbour NSW, Australia. The scope of works included the recovery and removal of the vessel from the Harbour floor and to reduce any environmental impact or risk to public and marine safety.

The berthed vessel was reported to local Authorities after it started taking on water and despite any initial efforts the yacht sank to the bottom of Wollongong Harbour. Luckily, no one was onboard at the time. Investigations are ongoing with initial concerns the bilge system may have failed.

We made all necessary arrangements for the vessel to be safely extracted from the harbour and transported off site. This included a full pre-works site risk and environmental assessment plus lift study to ensure all safety precautions were met before establishing the salvage crew. During the lift study it was identified that before the vessel could be removed from the water the masts would need to be dismantled for safety reasons.

Our commercial divers were responsible for dismantling the vessels mast underwater and salvage with the aid of our truck crane. The divers then installed lifting gear under the vessel’s hull ready for hoisting to the surface.

The hull lift and transport removal were assisted through our engagement of local qualified mobile crane and heavy haulage company. Once the vessel gunnels broke the surface the pump-out phase commenced to remove as much water as possible from the hull before hoisting the vessel from the water. During the pumping works surface crew monitored the vessel for any signs of hull damage and maintained constant communication with the crane operators.

At the completion of the pumping operation the vessel was lifted from the water and loaded onto a large drop-deck heavy haulage truck for transport off site. The vessel was secured on the truck with a pre-made boat support frame to aid in the load safety.

Our team conducted a final site assessment ensuring restoration of the site back to normal conditions before removal of the established site exclusion work zones including pedestrian barricades and signage to maintain public safety and clearance of the work area.

A final report of the completed project was prepared and issued to the client providing an accurate timeline of events and review of the overall project. We are pleased to report the project was a complete success and performed in less than the given timeframe exceeding the client’s expectations.