Two tour boats operated by reef tour company Quicksilver are resuming duties after being damaged by a concrete block at the bottom of the Port Douglas channel near the Sugar Wharf. 

Two of Quicksilver’s tour catamarans, Wavedancer and Poseidon, were damaged after striking the block on Sunday afternoon at about 4:30pm, an hour after the minimum low tide at 3:30. 

Poseidon suffered damage to its propeller and Wavedancer took damage to its hull and one keel. 

Both vessels had to be taken to Cairns for repairs, with Poseidon returning to Port Douglas today and Wavedancer set to return tomorrow. 

Another tour boat, Calypso, also suffered minor damage after striking the block but did not need to be taken out of operation for repairs. 

Marine Safety Queensland has marked the location of the block with a hazard float. 

Quicksilver managing director Tony Baker said the damage and loss of several days of operation for both boats had been ‘disappointing’.

“You usually don’t expect to run concrete blocks in the middle of the channel,” he told the Newsport. 

“Right now we can’t even begin to tell the cost of lost revenue as a result of this, right now our focus is on repairs but we will begin to compile cost once we are back at full operations.”

Woe betide whoever was responsible for the block being there in the first place, too. 

“At the end of the day we will be going back through our insurers when it comes to handling these costs,” Mr Baker said. 

“I can only expect that they will be looking to offset their own costs through the responsible party.”

Investigations into the origin of the block are underway by Marine Safety Queensland. 

The block is expected to be removed as early as tomorrow.