San Rosa saga: no sign of abandoned boat's owner one year on

Left to decay: It took six months for the abandoned San Rosa to be removed from the beach near Tikitiki, a task ultimately completed by the district council at a cost of more than $11,000. Efforts to track down the owner were unsuccessful. Picture by Liam Clayton

An East Coast harbourmaster is calling for changes to the country’s boat ownership rules after a man abandoned his vessel and successfully evaded authorities for 12 months.

It has been a year since ex-fishing trawler San Rosa washed up on a remote section of beach near Tikitiki, about two hours north of Gisborne.

The boat was travelling from Tauranga to the Marlborough region when it ran into rough seas on April 9, 2022.

Its owner, Ross William McIntosh, was winched to safety, along with two other crew members and a dog about 10 nautical miles off the coast of Tokomaru Bay.

The San Rosa then drifted at sea for six days before washing up.

Since then, Gisborne District Council harbourmaster Peter Buell says repeated attempts to hold McIntosh responsible have come up short.

“There were a couple of opportunities early on after the first storm where they (the owner) could have had an aircraft go up and find it quite easily and have it towed back in,” Buell said.

“But from the moment the incident happened and they left the vessel, they seemed to have no interest in it whatsoever. And that did seem a bit odd because they’d just bought it.”

Mr Buell said he had spoken to the owner only once following the ordeal and it “wasn’t a pleasant interaction”.

“He was blaming everyone except himself, taking no responsibility for it . . . it was everybody’s fault except his.”

Ultimately, the council took the boat’s removal into its own hands last October at a cost of $11,732.

The boat was destroyed, with no parts salvagable due to it being looted while wedged in the stony shore.

Attempts at sending the bill to McIntosh have been unsuccessful because of difficulties tracking him down.

“If we want to make this better we really need to get to the point where people are required to register their ownership of vessels,” Buell said.

“Then we can ensure we’ve got a current address and contact details for our responsible owner.”

Because Mr Buell was unable to physically send the bill to the boat’s owner, it made legal enforcement difficult, he said.

Meanwhile, police indicated they are no longer trying to locate McIntosh because numerous efforts had been unsuccessful.

“There are currently no more avenues for police,” a spokesperson said.

Harbourmaster Buell said abandoned vessels weren’t uncommon in New Zealand and happened for a number of reasons.

Those included people buying cheap boats with dreams of living on them, or sailing around the world, only to realise they were out of their depth.

The San Rosa was an 18-metre, 55-tonne ex-fishing trawler originally owned by Auckland and Sydney-based Sandford Ltd. It was first launched in 1955.

In November, Local Democracy Reporting revealed its elusive owner did time for a drug offence.

In 2016, McIntosh was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for his part in a cannabis-growing operation at an undisclosed location on the Buller River.

McIntosh and his counterpart accessed the site by boat and the crop was cultivated for personal use and sale.

When police raided his house, drug dogs found two containers at the rear of the property used to store cannabis plants.

McIntosh was also found to be in unlawful possession of firearms.

The prosecution required the forfeiture of a Harley Davidson motorcycle, jetboat and trailer, along with either $110,000 or a property he owned.