Successful salvage operation for luxury cruiser that ran aground in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf

A luxury cruiser has been successfully hauled off a bed of rocks it sat beached on in the Hauraki Gulf for five days.

The 15.5-metre Riviera craft, which could be worth upwards of $1 million, got in 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.

The boat had not budged in more than five days, but a spokesman for Auckland's harbourmaster said the vessel was not moving or leaking oil so it wasn't causing any issues.

Private salvage company Marine Services Auckland has 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.

The Lyndhurst is finally free. Photo / Mike Cochrane

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 would now 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.

A search for similar boats for sale worldwide show models listed for upwards of $1m.