APIA – A mystery surrounding the disappearance of a $182,000 rescue boat donated to the government of Samoa appears to have been solved.

According to the Commissioner of Police, Egon Keil, the state-of-the-art amphibious rescue boat has been “rescued” and it should be back with the police this week.

The Sealegs vessel had been “missing” since the day it was donated to the Samoa government during the Small Island Developing State conference last year.

Commissioner Keil said there was nothing illegal about the boat going missing. He said the boat ended up in the care of a local resident.

“According to the private citizen, because the authorities didn’t have the ability to work on and maintain it, he was given opportunity to house it, maintain it and use it once in a while,” said Keil.

“He has apparently had it for some time but I have instructed him that it is government property and we need it back, or else will have to go the other route.”

What that “other route” was, he did not say.

Asked who the local resident was, he also declined to say.

The whereabouts of the boat was raised by Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, during a conversation with the Commissioner.

“My Assistant Commissioner who was here at the time wasn’t familiar with the boat as well. So the first thing I did was that I got on the internet and then made some phone calls and found it.”

The rescue boat – the latest model in amphibious rescue boats – was donated by New Zealand-based company Sealegs which is owned by Mauritius-based Avenport Investment Corporation to the government last year to assist during natural disasters.

The boat was jointly donated by Samoa Artesian Water.

Prime Minister Tuilaepa received the boat from Eric Series, the chairman of Avenport.

“Samoa, like a lot of small islands, is facing the risk of tsunamis and flooding. The Sealegs amphibious boat is the only answer to fast and efficient action to save lives,” Series said at the time.

A spokesperson for the company that donated the $182,000 vessel has also stepped forward to set the record straight in reference to its whereabouts.

“It’s not anybody’s fault that the boat ended up at the home of the local resident,” said the Auckland-based company’s spokesperson.

“If anything, the police should be grateful to the resident who has been looking after it. And yet they’ve made it sound as if he’s done something wrong when in fact he has done the government and the people of Samoa a massive favour by looking after the boat.”

According to the Samoa Artesian Water spokesperson, there was no need for the police to look for the boat.

“We presented the boat to the Prime Minister during SIDS,” the spokesperson said from Auckland.

“The prime minister then handed it to the police who were notified to pick up the boat from the local resident’s home.

“The police were so busy during SIDS no one picked it up. Up until now, it has still not been picked up.

“So all this time, the local resident has been kind enough to garage it and have it covered at his home. It still hasn’t been used at all.”

The spokesperson said the police should thank the local resident for what he has done.