King Kong vessel sinks to watery grave

The boat that featured in Peter Jackson's blockbuster film King Kong has been sent to Davy Jones' Locker after being left to rot at a Wellington wharf for the last five years.

The Venture II was scuttled in the ammunition dumping ground in Cook Strait today under the supervision of Wellington Harbourmaster Captain Mike Pryce.

Its watery grave was 1.7km deep and 37 nautical miles from Miramar Wharf, where the boat had been moored since 2005.

"After we towed it there we disconnected the tow line, put a couple of people on board, opened the scuttling valves and then watched it fill up and sink," Capt Pryce told NZPA.

The process took exactly one hour.

There had been calls for the boat to be used as a dive attraction in shallow water off Wellington's south coast, but the proper resource consents were not approved.

The Venture II joins two trawlers from Nelson, a barge from Picton and plenty of old ammunition, Capt Pryce said.

There was no commemoration when the old boat disappeared below the waves.

"It's been there too long for a ceremony."

Once the King Kong movie props had been stripped from the ship it looked like a "wreck", he said.

"If it had been the original King Kong ship that might have been a bit more touristy."

Wellington ratepayers are footing the bill for the sinking, an estimated $30,000.

- NZPA