‘Wrecked’: SA island pensioner claims desertion by marine authorities
“I’m in the shit big time.” A Kangaroo Island disability pensioner is facing a huge bill after waiting 18 months for Marine Safety SA to help re-float his “pride and joy”. See the video.
A disability pensioner faces a $60,000 bill to retrieve his stricken boat from a Kangaroo Island beach claiming the State Government’s marine authority failed to provide clear directives or return phone calls to avoid the problem.
American River resident George John, 67, says he is suffering “severe depression and anxiety” after waiting more than 18 months for authorities to help re-float his “pride and joy” that is now deteriorating because of significant vandalism and rust.
Despite South Australia’s Ombudsman finding that Marine Safety SA had “erred” in its directives to John causing “unnecessary delays and cost”, authorities maintain that the costs to remove the stranded vessel from the picturesque bay remain with the owner.
The issue stretches back to August 19, 2024, when John’s 45-foot steel three-bedroom cabin cruiser broke its moorings in the American River harbour, initially becoming lodged on a shallow sand bank on the edge of the nearby tidal channel.
“At this point I had a bunch of mates with boats who could easily pull it off the bank on a high tide,” John said. “It wasn’t posing any hazard and we were just waiting for the right time.”
Four days later, Mr John received a phone call from Marine Safety SA’s Compliance Unit Manager Amy Killin. In the call, obtained by In Daily, Killin directed John to leave the boat where it was until she had spoken with her superiors.
“Until we actually have like a concrete plan of where to put it and how to remediate it for you and get it back on your mooring or whatever we do, the safest place for it is probably in situ where it is at the moment,” Killin said. “So I think I’m going to make the decision now.”
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Later in the conversation John asked: “So leave it alone over there you reckon?”
Killin replied: “Yeah, just leave it there for the moment. I’ll go back and have a chat with my boss today. Let’s keep the lines of the communication open and we can keep chatting about next steps.”
According to John, that communication never happened. Despite making multiple phone calls to their office and leaving voice messages, he did not receive any responses or directions from Marine Safety officers.
"I did what they asked me to do – I followed their orders – and now I’m in the shit big time."
“All my mates said to me that if you deal with government departments and you don’t do what they say you get fined,” John said. “So I did what they asked me to do – I followed their orders – and now I’m in the shit big time.”
Within weeks of the phone call, large storms with strong westerly winds and high tides pushed John’s boat across the tidal flats and onto the beach at Sapphiretown about 1km from the American River wharf.
“Now it’s so far up the beach it’s almost in the paddock,” John said. “It will need heavy machinery or a very powerful barge or tugboat. The quote to move it is $60,000. I haven’t got that kind of money. Who is going to move my boat?
“I’m really worried that they’re going to start charging me for it being on the beach when it is Marine Safety that put it there. It wouldn’t have been there if they left me alone.”
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In response to a letter of complaint in late 2024 to the Department of Infrastructure and Transport (DIT), the Minister at the time Tom Koutsantonis stated that the department had reviewed the phone call and said that the “assertion that Mr John was directed to ‘not touch his boat’ and the suggestion that he has been impeded in his recovery of the vessel by Marine Safety are not correct”.
However, an investigation by the State’s Ombudsman Emily Strickland in June last year stated that “Marine SA has erred by not providing Mr John with consistent and timely responses”.
“I am of the view that Marine SA has provided inconsistent information to Mr John, which has understandably caused him some confusion and has resulted in an unnecessary delay and costs,” Ms Strickland wrote. “I also note that Marine SA failed to respond to Mr John’s voicemails.
“If Marine SA did not intend to take further action in relation to this matter, it would have been appropriate to clearly notify Mr John of this position in the August 2024 conversation or the subsequent weeks.”
Despite the Ombudsman’s findings being handed down in June last year, DIT told InDaily that it was still “considering that advice”.
“The vessel recovery, safety, seaworthiness, and repair of any vessel is the responsibility of the vessel owner,’’ a DIT spokesperson said.
“The Department’s Marine Safety team has previously advised Mr John of his responsibilities.”
John, who runs his car on cooking oil and his modest house on a home-made battery system, said the stress the incident caused him left him feeling suicidal.
“I’m depressed to buggery,” he said. “Something needs to be done real bad. It’s Marine Safety’s fault that it’s stuck where it is. Now it’s just a big hunk of steel on a beach rusting away and people are stealing things from it and vandalising it.
“This was totally avoidable. How much longer do I have to wait for help?
“Marine Safety should buy this boat off me and they can deal with it anyway they like. They’ve put in me in the baddest predicament ever. They say it’s my responsibility to fix up when this is ruining my life and there is no way I can afford it. What’s stopping them doing this to other people in the future?”
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