Crew from Greymouth fishing vessel Mako were rescued on Wednesday after the vessel ran aground on rocks just south of Barn Bay, about 70km south of Haast.
The wooden boat was splintered into ‘‘a million pieces’’ as it was pounded against rocks. However, all four crew members were rescued unharmed after making it ashore.
Maritime NZ said its Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCC) received an emergency distress beacon alert registered to the vessel about 8am on Wednesday.
Two helicopters were sent and, about an hour later, confirmed the crew were ashore and uninjured.
A spokesman said the fishing boat was “destroyed’’ in the grounding, and a Maritime NZ investigation into the incident is now under way. The West Coast Regional Council is leading the environmental response.
Representatives of the company that owns the boat were flown to the isolated site yesterday.
Heliservices Haast spokeswoman Sheri Wright said the boat was “splintered into a million pieces, everywhere’’. Only the metal cabin and the bow were sticking out of the water.
Mrs Wright said the “very lucky’’ crew were on the boat as it started to break up, but had managed to get in their inflatable and make it to the beach. They were picked up within an hour of raising the alarm by a Te Anau-based rescue helicopter and flown to Haast.
“They were pretty cold and shaken-up when they got here. They were very lucky boys.’’
She said the crew got a private ride back to Nelson.
A fly-over of the shipwreck site had ascertained there was no oil spill.
“It’s very clean. We checked that out already. It’s just debris really … foam and fish bins.
At this stage the company planned to return on Sunday to salvage the boat remains.
Acting Senior Sergeant Mark Surman, of Greymouth, said police were deployed but, in the end, a cross-district response was initiated with the Otago Police District. The rescue helicopter dropped off the crew “safe and well” at the Haast airfield, he said.
Mako had previously run aground on the North Beach at Westport in the early 1980s.