Ivor Edward Steven Treacher’s t 38-foot recreational boat Sylvia has no engine, is unseaworthy and will be removed from the harbour on or about August 7, the Otago Regional Council (ORC) says.
ORC legal counsel Peter Kelliher said the council’s harbourmaster "noted the poor state of the vessel" during an inspection of Oamaru Harbour last October.
"In May, he became concerned that the vessel may have deteriorated to the point of being unsafe."
In an attempt to locate the boat’s owner, the council mailed Mr Treacher at his last known address and checked Otago Regional Council records. It also made inquiries with the Waitaki District Council, Mr Treacher’s lawyers and Maritime New Zealand and placed advertisements in the Otago Daily Times and Oamaru Mail.
Mr Kelliher told Fairfax the council believed Mr Treacher left New Zealand in March and had not re-entered the country.
Waitaki District Council property manager Renee Julius said Mr Treacher had never bought a licence to occupy a mooring at the harbour. But at one point he had two boats either anchored or moored there.
In May last year his other boat in the harbour, a smaller yellow boat, broke free from its anchor in a storm and washed up on to the rocks near Waterfront Rd.
It was removed from the Holmes Wharf day berth in October last year.
Both boats had been in the harbour for several years.
The ODT understands Mr Treacher was the owner of a junk-filled trawler that caught fire in Careys Bay, Dunedin, in January 2012.
