A Pounawea resident, who did not want to be identified, contacted the Otago Daily Times after he was approached by a tourist concerned the historic 1910 scow which is beached on the riverbank was leaking oil or fuel into the river, polluting it.
Photos taken by the resident at low tide show a grimy, oily substance on the interior of the ship’s hull.
Clutha District Owaka ward councillor Hilary McNab said she was aware of the ongoing concerns locals had with Portland.
A spokesman for the Otago Regional Council (ORC) said a harbourmaster visited Portland yesterday. The council received a complaint at the start of the month about the Portland.
The harbourmaster was there to determine if the scow could break apart and become a navigational issue for other boats using the river.
While the ORC had received a few complaints about leakages from the boat over the years, site visits consistently determined on each occasion there were no contaminants leaking from the boat.
The harbourmaster had found there was some oil and fuel on board in small tanks, but the tanks were not considered a ‘"great pollution risk in the immediate term" provided they were not moved.
The ORC spokesman encouraged people to contact the council directly on its pollution hotline if they had concerns.
Although some locals believed Portland, which had been decaying on the riverbank for several years, was an eyesore, it was not the ORC’s job to police or remove the boat unless there was a compliance issue, he said.
The regional council did not know who owned the boat.
The Portland was moored upriver for more than 30 years before 2011.
It is believed to have changed hands several times in the past few years since it became beached at the Owaka River and was allegedly sold to a bystander for $5 at one stage. A man believed to be the boat’s owner at the time told the Otago Daily Times last year he intended to restore the scow and convert it into accommodation. The ODT was unable to contact that man.
Despite the plans, the boat remains stuck on the riverbank, quietly decaying.
Locals also do not know who the owner is.
