More then 12 months after she was abandoned at sea, the seven metre yacht, the Air Apparent, has finally come to rest at a marina in Bowen, Queensland on Australia's east coast leaving AQIS officers with a biofouling clean-up.

The hardy sailboat travelled more than 2000 nautical miles drifting across the Pacific Ocean after its captain and inexperienced crew abandoned the yacht in rising seas and were air lifted by helicopter off New Zealand's north east coast on March 25, 2008.

The sailboat and its mutiny made headlines within the New Zealand yachting community but it was the amount of biofouling that was the breaking news for AQIS officers.

The yacht was heavily fouled with an estimated 20 kilograms of seaweed and gooseneck barnacles, crustaceans that live in intertidal zones of temperate and cold water oceans.

Biofouling is a term used by the maritime industry describing when marine organisms attach to and grow on objects such as hulls, anchors, cables, fenders—in fact just about anything that comes into regular contact with the sea.

It is recognised worldwide as a pathway for the introduction and spread of exotic marine pests and diseases.

Yacht owners are advised to use an effective anti–fouling coating not less than 12 months old on their vessels and to clean hulls and equipment that have been in contact with seawater at their last port of call, prior to arriving in Australia.

The Air Apparent's solo drifting voyage meant neither had happened.

Local fisherman spotted the sailboat off the coast south of Townsville and towed the sailboat into the marina, contacting the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service who in turn advised AQIS. 

Under AQIS supervision, the yacht was taken to a haul out facility and placed onto a hardstand were it was cleaned from top to bottom—including water intake systems'—with a high pressure water cleaning system.

All material removed from the yacht was treated and disposed of to ensure biosecurity integrity with the yacht remaining on the hardstand for a further 48 hours before release by AQIS officers.