THREE drivers got a hard lesson in how quickly the tide comes in when their vehicles were swept into the waters of Port Stephens on the weekend.
Emergency services received calls for assistance at 7.30am on Sunday, December 3 to the water's edge along Peace Parade, Tanilba Bay.
According to NSW Police, reports were coming in that "a number of vehicles were found submerged in water".
Officers arrived to find a blue Nissan SUV, a black Mitsubishi ute and a silver Nissan ute all floating around semi-submerged in the water. According to reports the vehicles had been caught in rising tides and could not be removed from the bank fast enough to escape inundation.
No one was injured during the incident but it created a headache for the Environmental Protection Authority, the Marine Parks team from the Department of Primary Industries and Port Stephens Council, which were tasked with fishing the vehicles out. Two of the vehicles have already been removed from the water and the organisations are currently assessing how to safely remove the remaining vehicle, with access dependent on the tides.
While council is not the regulatory authority for the waterways where the vehicles were submerged, they have offered to assist the DPI.
"There is no observable pollution (such as fuel or oil) coming from the remaining vehicle," a spokesperson for the EPA said.
The scene was reminiscent of an incident from 2014 at Stockton where a blue four-wheel-drive was towed from the water, with no one around to claim it.
At the time the vehicle was located by a passerby and spotted being smashed by heavy surf in a spot popular with four-wheel-drive enthusiasts.
The car sustained several significant dents to the doors, had a few flat tyres and a busted window.
The plates had been removed but an adorning fishing-themed bumper sticker, some blue tarp and what looked like an esky remained intact. Police later identified the vehicle's owner and said they would be taking further action.
