According to ABC News, the wooden fishing boat Almonta sank on its moorings at Snooks Landing in October 2021. It had been built on the Sunshine Coast and used to catch salmon, tuna, shark and rock lobster. It was built by Pat Vansleve from Queensland's Caloundra Shipbuilders and launched in 1966 for Port Lincoln salmon fisher Mike Buberis.
“The Almonta was an early wooden vessel in the local salmon and bluefin tuna fleets of the 1960s. It was a favourite for those who worked on its rich timber deck and netted huge catches of fish from the rolling Southern Ocean. The vessel had been retired to a mooring at Porter Bay and was a shadow of its former glory by the time (a) Mr Antolini bought it …. Mr Antolini said the trouble started when a yacht and its mooring hit the Almonta during a storm, damaging the hull and causing water to leak in. The boat sunk two months later in October 2021. ….
“…. The Almonta remains on the seabed, its crow's nest and
railings breaking the surface of the calm waters of Porter Bay and lilting
precariously to one side. (February 2023). A photograph of its construction is
in The Australian National Maritime Museum.”
A Geoff Collinson is writing a book about the Almonta.
He says that Port Lincoln salmon fisher Mike Buberis “first named the boat Salmonta
but later changed it to Almonta to jump the queue in the daily
alphabetically-scheduled radio safety calls to fishing boats. Almonta Beach in
the Coffin Bay National Park was named after the boat, which was a familiar
sight as its fishers caught salmon.”
The Almonta is also said to be the boat to use
automated fishing poling, and trialled deep sea rock lobster fishing.
Images on Eyre (@imagesoneyre) posted these New Years’ Day
2026 drone photos of the Almonta on their Facebook
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