Successful salvage operation for luxury cruise ship that ran aground in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf

A luxury cruise liner has been successfully towed from a bedrock where it was stranded in the Hauraki Gulf for five days.

The 15.5 meter Riviera ship, which could be worth more than $ 1 million, got into trouble and ran aground on the rocks at Achilles Point near the entrance to the Tāmaki River in east Auckland on Wednesday 23 December.

Two people had been on the ship and needed to be rescued, but did not need medical attention.

The ship had not moved in more than five days, but a spokesperson for the Auckland harbor captain said the ship was not moving or had oil leaks, so it was not causing any problems.

Private salvage company Marine Services Auckland has been monitoring the vessel and work to move it began on Monday.

Salvage master / owner Nick Lewis said first crews had repaired holes in the boat so it could float.

They then waited for the tide to fill in before hauling it off the rocks and heading back to the marina in Half Moon Bay.

“Everything went according to plan,” Lewis said.

“It took a lot of damage, but the patches held. We just had to pull a bit and it came off the rocks easily.”

It would now be turned over to an insurance company for evaluation.

Lewis said he did not want to speculate on the cause of the accident, but acknowledged that there had been a “clear navigation error.”

The ship, named Lyndhurst, is built by Riviera, an Australian luxury motor yacht company.

A search for similar boats for sale around the world shows models listed for more than $ 1 million.