Authorities will today begin removing a 27-metre yacht that sank off the central Queensland coast almost two weeks ago.
The luxury vessel was damaged earlier this month in rough conditions and started taking on water, before it became grounded at Lammermoor beach.
Local community members spent the following days picking up debris that had washed ashore from the multi-million-dollar yacht.
Last week, Maritime Safety Queensland [MSQ] gave the owner "until the weekend" to salvage the boat.
It remained grounded on the popular beach, and now, weather permitting, the authority will begin cleaning it up.
"MSQ took legal possession of the yacht last week and engaged salvors on Friday (May 20)," MSQ general manger Kell Dillon said in a statement.
"The risk of it remaining stuck on the beach for some time, breaking up and becoming an environmental issue led MSQ to act quickly in the community's best interests.
"MSQ has been working closely with Queensland Police Service and Livingstone Shire Council to minimise pollution, clean up debris and keep the public safe."
Clean up begins
Livingstone Shire Council confirmed a section of the beach would be closed from today until Friday while the clean up was underway.
In a statement, the council said the clean up was "weather dependent" and would happen in daylight hours.
"Traffic will be impacted during this period with intermittent wait times of up to 15 minutes on the Scenic Highway, between Mulambin Road and Clayton Road. Detours will also be in place," the statement said.
"Pedestrian access will also be impacted around the Statue Bay headland."
'Little bit frustrated'
Malcolm Wells from Capricorn Coast Landcare said it was disheartening to see the mess and debris the vessel had created.
"People are just amazed [the clean up] has taken so long," Mr Wells said.
"It does worry me if there is further development on Great Keppel (Island) in the future and bigger ships come in and one of them comes a cropper.
"Let's hope they take precautions to stop anything like this happening again.
"[Though] on the upside it's amazing that people have come together, picking up all the bits and pieces."
Capricorn Conservation Council's Coral Rowston echoed those sentiments.
"I'm a little bit frustrated that it's taken so long to clean up what is imminent environmental harm happening on our beaches," she said.
"It would be really nice to see some [quicker] processes in place, where [if] the owner doesn't respond in a certain amount of time, the government steps in very quickly and sends them the bill."
