Picton Harbour yacht wreck remains a mystery

The roughly 10m long wreck is thought to be the Sioux - an uninsured $150,000 vessel which went missing five years ago. Photo / Supplied

It remains a mystery where the wreck of a yacht found on the sea floor of Picton Harbour came from.

Divers inspected the vessel today and were able to confirm it was not the Sioux - a $150,000 yacht that went missing five years ago.

Police originally thought it was the vessel, after the wreck was discovered during a Defence Force training exercise on Friday.

The wreck has now been identified as a much older launch, not a yacht or ketch.

A further dive will take place tomorrow to gather more information, police said.

"Because of the depth of the vessel divers have limited time in the water," police said.

The finding means the boat might be brought to the surface, if police want to conduct further inquiries.

A Marlborough District Council spokeswoman said the only reason the ship would be brought to the surface was if police wanted to investigate it.

The harbourmaster would otherwise ensure the ship was marked on charts and leave it where it lay, she said.

"The harbourmaster's concern relates to navigation safety and, as this is in 30m of water, it's not considered a risk to other vessels. It's also in a no-anchoring area, so that also means there's minimal risk.

"What they will do is they will chart it. The only reason it would come up is if the police wanted to bring it up for any reason."

Tasman Police spokeswoman Barbara Dunn said the next step would depend entirely on what the vessel was.

"It will depend entirely on what that [boat] is," she said.

Police launch Lady Elizabeth III and members of the national dive squad arrived in Picton this morning to dive the wreck.

Divers live-streamed a video of the wreck this afternoon to police on Lady Elizabeth III in the hopes of identifying the vessel.

It is understood the newly-found wreck has been underwater for about five to 10 years.

Police would not be drawn on whether the wreck could be connected with the high-profile disappearance of Olivia Hope and Ben Smart in 1998.

Ms Dunn yesterday said she could not comment."We wouldn't even speculate on anything like that," she said.

Witnesses to the last sighting of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope gave descriptions of them boarding a "distinctive class ketch, with two masts, about 12-13m, with a white and blue hull with round portholes".

A boat matching the description was never found by police.Scott Watson was convicted for the murders of Smart and Hope and is currently serving a life sentence.

Previously, a deliberately-sunk yacht found in Gisborne Harbour in 2000, was linked to the pair's disappearance by those who believe Watson is innocent of their murders.