Infamous yacht sent to a watery grave

By NATASHA HARRIS

The infamous yacht Lonebird, linked to the Marlborough Sounds murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope and a major drug-smuggling operation, was scuttled near Gisborne yesterday.

After mysteriously sinking in its Gisborne harbour mooring three years ago, the 20m yacht was sent to its final resting place at Young Nicks Head, as an artificial reef for divers.

Using 20kg of explosives stuffed in the stern, it took just 28 seconds to sink the Lonebird, about eight nautical miles off the coast in 30m-deep water.

Its history is steeped in drugs, murder and mystery. In 1997, Lonebird was rumoured to have been the ketch originally sought after Ben Smart, 21, and Olivia Hope, 17, were killed. Its double mast, blue stripe on its side and brass rings around the port holes matched the mystery ketch police were looking for.

And in early 2000, Lonebird reportedly transferred drugs from off the coast of New Zealand to Australia.

Sir Thomas Graham Fry, who owned Lonebird then, was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in bringing 500kg of cocaine into Australia, the country's largest cocaine seizure at the time.

Then in September 2000, it sank in Gisborne harbour during a storm in unknown circumstances.

Rob Campbell, of Bay Underwater Service which scuttled the boat, said it had been deliberately sunk after divers found all the seacocks open when it was pulled from the bottom of the harbour last month.

Lonebird was raised because it was posing a hazard to ships.

The yacht, which went through months of legal battles over its ownership, was contracted for removal by Australia's proceeds-of-crime unit, the Insolvency and Trustee Service.