{"id":768290,"date":"2026-06-29T18:30:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/768290\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T18:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:30:15","slug":"wa-police-stumped-by-apparent-heist-of-8-tonnes-of-tugboat-propellers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/768290\/","title":{"rendered":"WA Police stumped by apparent heist of 8 tonnes of tugboat propellers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Detectives are investigating the apparent theft of four enormous copper-rich tugboat propellers worth about $2 million in Western Australia’s north.<\/p>\n

The heist appears to be one of the most daring authorities have seen, as each propeller weighs 2 tonnes and measures almost 3 metres across.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The propellers belong to tugboats like this one, approaching the port at Dampier. (ABC News: Charlie Mills)<\/p>\n

Police believe the suspects broke into an industrial yard on the Burrup Peninsula near Dampier, 1,530 kilometres north of Perth, between December 18, 2025 and May 29 of this year.<\/p>\n

Heavy machinery was likely used to move the propellers, which had been stored in specially built frames for transport.<\/p>\n

It took five months for the propellers’ owner, whom the police did not identify, to report them missing.<\/p>\n

Made to measure from a bronze-nickel alloy, which has a high concentration of copper, police estimate the total cost of replacing the propellers could reach $2 million.<\/p>\n

Copper theft reaches new heights<\/p>\n

Copper theft is a widespread problem due to its high resale value and ability to be recycled over and over.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The metal is used in electricity infrastructure and in artificial intelligence, which has triggered increasingly brazen raids<\/a> by thieves.<\/p>\n

Police suspect the alleged perpetrators may scrap the propellers and have asked the public to report any suspicious copper sales.<\/p>\n

\"industrial<\/p>\n

The Burrup Peninsula is home to several industrial projects, including Woodside’s largest gas production facility.\u00a0 (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

Karratha metal recycler Mohammed Ghambarie was among those contacted by police in the course of their inquiries.<\/p>\n

He said there was a thriving black market for copper scrap around the state and speculated that any stolen goods would be sold cash-in-hand far from town.<\/p>\n

“The bronze is worth about $8 to $9 a kilo for this scrap, and the nickel is probably, if pure nickel, worth $15 a kilo,” Mr Ghambarie said.<\/p>\n

Highway in darkness as copper theft on the rise<\/a><\/p>\n

Commuters on Perth roads are having to drive in pitch-black conditions after copper thieves strip wiring from the network.<\/p>\n

He estimated the thieves might make around $72,000 from the eight-tonne haul but warned the merchandise would set alarm bells ringing.<\/p>\n

“A brand new propeller like this definitely raises red flags; we just stay away from that,” he said.<\/p>\n

Gas giant Woodside, which operates several of the peninsula’s largest facilities, told the ABC the incident did not involve any of its equipment or infrastructure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Detectives are investigating the apparent theft of four enormous copper-rich tugboat propellers worth about $2 million in Western…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":768291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[365601,30367,43,151833,5315,44,46,1158,300281,70264,58040,41,39,42,40,365602,25962,41754],"class_list":["post-768290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-burrup-peninsula","tag-copper","tag-headlines","tag-heist","tag-investigation","tag-news","tag-perth","tag-police","tag-propeller","tag-stolen","tag-theft","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-tugboat","tag-wa","tag-woodside"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}