Luxury cruiser stuck in Hauraki Gulf looted while stranded on rocks

A luxury vessel was ransacked and looted as it lay stuck on a bed of rocks in the Hauraki Gulf for five days.

Looters stole booze and most of the game-fishing gear which was on board, along with slashing the leather interiors and setting off the fire foam suppression system, sources have told the Herald.

The 15.5-metre Riviera craft, which could be worth upwards of $1 million, was successfully hauled off a bed of rocks yesterday.

The occupants got into trouble and ran aground on rocks at Achilles Point near the Tāmaki River entrance in east Auckland on Wednesday, December 23.

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

Salvors said the vandals likely got on board the launch on Sunday evening. The rock bed the vessel lay on was walkable from the shore at low tide.

Upon running aground, the boat's engines had been severely damaged and since flooded. Other major damage included large holes that needed to be patched up.

Tonnes of water needed to be pumped out of the hull before it could be refloated.

The boat held 4000 litres of diesel on board, which fortunately remained intact otherwise it could have spelled a major environmental disaster.

Boat builder sources have estimated the damage could be more than $800,000 worth, essentially making it a write-off.

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

Owner/salvage master Nick Lewis said first staff had patched up holes in the boat so it could float.

They then waited for the tide to fill in before they towed it off the rocks, and back to the marina at Half Moon Bay.

"It all went to plan," Lewis said.

"It had quite a bit of damage, but the patches held. We just had to give it a little pull and it came off the rocks easily."

It was due to be handed over to an insurance company for assessment.

Lewis said he did not want to speculate on the cause of the crash, but acknowledged there had been a "clear navigational error".

The vessel, named Lyndhurst, is built by Riviera, a luxury Australian motor yacht company.

The owner is understood to be an experienced skipper, and had owned the vessel for some time. The crash is understood to have been caused by an error navigating channel markers.