Lifeboat from ill-fated cruise liner gets second life as Ohakune Carrot Park pirate ship

The lifeboat was designed to carry 100 people.

The Ohakune Carrot Adventure Park is about to get a new pirate ship and part of it has travelled a long way.

Its base is a lifeboat from the Russian cruise liner Mikhail Lermontov, which sank in February 1986 after hitting a rock in the Port Gore inlet.

There were more than 700 passengers and crew aboard but only one person died - a Russian refrigeration engineer.

The 155-metre vessel has remained on the sea floor ever since.

Park development team member Peggy Frew said Paul Scarf, owner of Ohakune’s Powderhorn Chateau, towed the lifeboat across Cook Strait with his brother-in-law shortly after the disaster.

It was then transported from Wellington to Ohakune behind a carrot truck.

“It lived in long grass for decades,” Frew said.

“When the idea to turn it into a pirate ship was first raised, about two years ago, I just thought it was the silliest idea.

“I didn’t see how we could do it but Paul donated it to us and it’s happening. It really is one of a kind.”

She said the original lifeboat was built to carry 100 people - “it’s big” - and a local family, the Laurensons, gave a cash donation to get the project under way.

The Mikhail Lermontov near Tauranga in February 1986, days before it sank.

Master craftsman Wayne Gunnell built the pirate ship and artist Tina Drayton provided “vegetable pirates”, Frew said.

It will be moved to the park this week, with the official unveiling set for 11am on November 8.

“It will be interactive - there’ll be ropes to climb up and a gangplank, lots of things.

“The lifeboat gives the whole thing a tremendous base.”

The park was formally opened in 2016 and features such as an obstacle course, exercise machines, swings, slides and a flying fox have been added.

In 2023, a 5.3m carrot rocket was unveiled, mostly paid for by YouTubers Josh Carrott and Ollie Kendal who donated $20,000.

Frew said after the ship’s installation, the park team would slow down and “just keep maintaining everything”.

“My son, who lives in Perth, is actually getting married there next year.

“Maybe the next project is building a little wedding chapel.”

The Mikhail Lermontov is a popular diving destination due to its shallow depth, with dives ranging from 12m at the top of the wreck to 36m.

Its top decks snapped following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake.

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.