When the Pride of the Murray was dragged from the depths of the Thomson River at the start of September, it was to the sound of cheers from all those involved in the challenging salvage operation.

But that would be the last time the 99-year-old tourist vessel would sit in, or on, the waters of the Thomson River.

After almost two weeks of uncertainty, and six months’ worth of mud drying on the weary paddle wheeler’s hull, Longreach tourism company Outback Pioneers today revealed the boat would not be able to cruise again.

“If there had been an obvious reason for her sinking and a simple fix for that, we would have done it,” owner and founder Richard Kinnon said.

“That was always what we intended. 

“I know many, many people who have followed her progress will be very disappointed and I can assure them that no-one is more disappointed than we are after all the effort and love we’ve put into her.”

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has finalised enquiries into the sinking of the Pride of the Murray incident and said the cause remained unknown.

The Pride of the Murray was trucked an epic 1,700 kilometres from Echuca in central Victoria last year with the hopes it would take pride of place on the Thomson River in Longreach as a tourist vessel.

After a promising start, and successfully cruising for a few months in 2022, it sank in March 2023.

‘Impossible or prohibitively expensive’

“She would now need large portions of her hull and superstructure replaced to bring her up to a current certifiable standard for a passenger vessel,” Mr Kinnon said.

“Even then, it is likely that getting insurance underwriting would be impossible or prohibitively expensive.”

Baldwin Boats was part of the salvage operation and has been involved with the Pride of the Murray since it was transported from Echuca.

Madison Baldwin from Baldwin Boats said while nothing was damaged during the salvage, all the damage was done when it was sitting on the bottom of the river.

“The amount of work that they’d have to do after it’s been sitting on the bottom of the river for six months to get it back up to that level is a lot, and obviously not a feasible amount,” Ms Baldwin said.

‘Double vision’

While hopes of ever seeing it on the water again may have sunk, Mr Kinnon is already floating a new “double vision” for the boat, which includes the construction of a replica paddle wheeler to take its place on the Thomson.

“The place we all wanted her was back on the water. But I can do the next best thing by giving her a berth beside the river, restoring her glory and giving her a new role in telling the story of pioneer riverboats,” Mr Kinnon said.

“Whatever we decide for the Pride of the Murray’s new role, in the not-too-distant future, Longreach visitors will be ‘seeing double’ with a Pride of the Murray I and Pride of the Murray II working together to tell the pioneer stories.

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