The wooden Lankan asylum seeker boat that gobsmacked onlookers when it sailed into Geraldton harbour, Australia last year has been donated to the West Australian Museum.

The rickety vessel was seized by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service after it arrived at the port, 420km north of Perth, on April 9 last year with 66 people from Sri Lanka on board. Despite Geraldton being one of Australia’s busiest regional ports, the boat made it within metres of the mainland and was first intercepted by two local men in a dinghy.

The arrival sparked an internal Customs review that examined how the boat made it to the mainland undetected - the first to do so in about five years - concluding that the response was appropriate given the information available at the time.

The review also confirmed that New Zealand was the vessel’s intended destination.

When the ship’s master realised it was not possible to complete the voyage as planned due to weather delays and safety concerns, he steamed toward the WA coastline for assistance.

Today, WA Museum chief executive Alec Coles said the vessel and its story were part of contemporary Australian history, and an assessment was underway to see if it could be transported from Geraldton to Perth for conservation, storage and preparation for eventual display.

“Of the criteria that define what contemporary material any museum should collect, one tries to imagine how significant that material might be viewed in 100 years’ time,” Mr Coles said. Other Australian museums that have asylum seeker vessels as part of their collections include the National Museum, the National Maritime Museum, and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.