Crayfishing boat owners contacting brokers to get ‘top dollar’ from Australian Border Force for their vessels

Crayfishing boat owners are contacting brokers asking how they can get “top dollar” from the Australian Border Force for their vessels after it was revealed authorities are buying up boats to give to people smugglers.

A Geraldton cray fishing industry insider, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was aware the ABF had requested 10 boats from one broker, of which at least three had come from Geraldton.

He said the first Geraldton boat was Southern Bounty 3, which changed hands in June this year, followed by Gantheaume Bay, which was sold about a month ago, followed by the Albatross which was put on the back of a truck last weekend.

The West Australian revealed this week the ABF had been purchasing cray boats in Geraldton to give to people smugglers intercepted off the North West coast to return asylum seekers home.

The local source said the Southern Bounty was sold for about $400,000, which was “above, but not well above market value”.

“I know in the (contract) they say $400,000 maximum, but you strip your boat of any electrics or anything of huge value, you basically need a working engine and a compass,” he said.

“When they get the people on there, they just put a watch keeper, and they point it in the right direction and the boat just takes off to Indonesia.

“You get market rate plus you can strip your boat of valuable things.”

The source said it was a “shame” these boats were ending up this way.

“It is bad because they are good boats and they’re basically going to die. They would have had another 20-year lifespan if they stayed here on the west coast, if properly maintained,” he said.

Crayfishing veteran Carlo Dipane, who has worked off WA shores for 65 years, sold one of his boats in 2023 through a broker but only found out after the paperwork was done that it was destined for use by Border Force.

The next time he saw the boat he’d owned for decades and refurbished in recent years was when he was sent a photo of it from an ABC report in July 2024 about people smugglers.

His Caprice was on its side on a reef, surrounded by yellow “danger” tape.

“Once you’ve worked on a vessel and you see it then on its death throes, it really does something to you,” he told The West.

“It was a beautiful little boat. One of my sons, has never forgiven me for selling it.

“I didn’t know they were going to give it to the Indonesians for nothing.”

Mr Dipane said he had since heard the Government was purchasing lots of ex-cray boats from people who retired from the industry.

“It’s still not right what they’re doing, especially when you see what they do with them,” he said.

Premier Roger Cook wouldn’t be drawn on the merits of what he described as a Federal operational issue.

“It’s important to make sure that people who do fall prey to people smugglers are returned home safely,” he said.

“We’ve always said that Western Australia has a vast coastline. It’s important that we have the resources to ensure that we keep Western Australia safe.”

The boats are also purchased by Border Force to be used for training marine operations teams — practising the dicey high sea manoeuvres needed to intercept people smuggling ventures, illegal fishers and drug rings.

One boat broker said he had been aware of speculation abut the purchases for months, but denied being involved in any direct sales.

However, he said that since the news broke this week he had been contacted by boat owners wanting “top dollar” for their vessels, keen for him to inquire with ABF.

Another Geraldton fisherman who did not want to be named said they know of three boats that had been prepared for sale by a boat builder at the Port Denison Boat Harbour.

The cray boats had an estimated value of $120,000 each but were purchased by the ABF for $350,000-$400,000 each — well above market value.

An insider in the boat maintenance scene in the Mid West, who also wished to remain anonymous, said he heard rumours about Border Force buying up boats about six months ago.

“I have put some boats on the trucks or put rudders on them and helped get them up for surveys, just standard stuff that we do here for boats,” they said.

“I honestly couldn’t tell you exactly what’s happened with them.

“But I have seen and heard rumours around and there were pictures of a boat that we worked on … on the front of your paper, that we used to look after.”

Australia has used a range of solutions for the so-called rickety boats problem in the past, including bright orange lifeboats and purpose-built vessels made in Vietnam that resembled fishing boats commonly used across southeast Asia.

Indonesian authorities said in mid-2024 that Border Force had been putting intercepted people smugglers onto aluminium boats with GPS preprogrammed to take them back to Rote Island, in the archipelagic nation’s east, The Times reported previously.

Meanwhile, Australian and Indonesian authorities joined forces last week for Operation Jawline Arafura to target illegal fishing along the maritime border between the two countries.

Six vessels were boarded during the operation.

“Illegal foreign fishing represents a serious threat to both our border security and our marine environment. We will not tolerate any illegal activity in our waters, and we will continue to work tirelessly to combat this threat with our regional partners,” ABF maritime border commander Rear Admiral Brett Sonter said.