Rob Ong kisses his bride May Eng on Careys Bay wharf on
Monday afternoon, just as a large fire broke out on the
wooden wharf and spread to a former North Sea trawler.
Photo by Sinead Jenkins.
It was smoke on the water and fire in the eyes for a
newlywed couple, who toasted their nuptials with some
one-of-a-kind wedding snaps.
Melbourne couple Rob Ong and May Eng, who returned to the
city where they met to marry, were posing for photographs on
the wooden wharf at Careys Bay on Monday afternoon when a
fire broke out.
A former North Sea trawler, Neptune, was severely
damaged in the blaze, with up to a dozen firefighters working
to control the flames spreading to other boats.
Photographer Sinead Jenkins told the Otago Daily
Times she was photographing the bride and groom on the
wharf when she was informed of the fire.
"We shot a few more shots as it was really small at this
stage in the distance, and then as we moved back along the
jetty two fire engines arrived."
The couple were easy-going, and because "the smoke was
incredible and bellowing out into the sky", it was used as a
backdrop for their wedding photographs, she said.
The fire failed to disrupt their big day, and the smoke made
the photographs "look quite cool".
Dunedin police were yet to track down the vessel's owner, who
is believed to be in Tauranga. They would review CCTV
footage.
The fire was not being treated as suspicious. It was likely
to have been started by a discarded cigarette left on a pile,
and to have spread to the vessel in strong winds.
Otago Regional Services group manager Jeff Donaldson said the
regional council's response was to ensure there were no oil
or diesel spills from the damaged vessel, and this had been
carried out.
A hazards expert was likely to inspect some of the items on
the vessel to ensure there were no dangerous substances on
board.
If there were ensuing costs, "it was not a ratepayers'
responsibility, it was a boat owner's responsibility".
"If we have to remove anything or ... work to prevent
pollution in the coastal environment, it is a cost to the
owner."
A Port Otago spokesman said an engineering team would assess
damage to the pile this week.
Anyone who knows the owner's whereabouts, or may have seen
someone at the wharf at the time of the fire, is urged to
contact Dunedin police on (03) 471-4800.
- hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz
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