Murray River houseboat incident: Police investigate after men in pontoon boat harass women

A group of women enjoying a relaxing weekend together are left terrified after a boatload of tourists crashed into their houseboat and climbed aboard.

NSW Police confirmed they were investigating the incident, which is believed to have occurred on Saturday on the Murray River near Moama near the Victorian border.

Police claim the women were on the boat when they were approached by a group of 15 men who asked if they could come onto their moored houseboat.

The women refused with later footage showing them yelling at the men to leave them alone.

A few hours later, the group of men returned and allegedly crashed into the houseboat.

A group of men then, uninvited, jumped onto the houseboat, allegedly threatening the women and wreaking havoc.

The men who remained on the pontoon boat allegedly exposed themselves to the women and threw cans and glass bottles at the boat.

It is alleged that the pontoon boat drove into the houseboat several times before the men finally left the area.

Separate footage filmed by others on the water that afternoon shows the pontoon boat inches away from the houseboat.

The women reported the incident to police and said they were still shaken by the frightening ordeal.

“We just heard a big boom a few hours later. We were on the top floor and we looked down, and they had actually climbed aboard the boat,” a woman said. 3AW on Monday.

Another video, filmed by a local fisherman, shows a different angle to the alleged incident

“We asked them to get out, they started peeing on our stuff, they banged on the windows to get in…it took about half an hour.

“They kept coming back, they drove into the boat, there were death threats.

“It was absolutely terrifying. We were all afraid for our safety.”

One of the frightened women on board was seven months pregnant.

The group feared for their lives when they were moored in a remote area on the river.

“We tried to lock ourselves upstairs so they couldn’t get up,” the woman added.

“It was all very scary.”

“There was just no reason for them, we just kept asking them to leave and left us alone.”

NSW Police have appealed to anyone with more footage of the incident to come forward

The houseboat they rented is from Moama on Murray, the same company that also owns the pontoon boat.

“He (the owner) had been looking for them for hours to get them released because their rent had ended,” the woman said.

The harrowing ordeal led others who had encounters with the same men while enjoying Victoria’s long weekend by the river to share their stories with 3AW journalist Jacqui Felgate.

A group of young women swimming in the river with their families recalled how the men tried to lure them onto their boat by claiming they had food and drink.

“Three hours later they came back and tried again while we were packing,” they wrote.

“They got very close to us in their boat as we swam near our family’s boat and the motor started revving towards us, which became very concerning.”

The woman said she and her friends feared for their lives during the harrowing ordeal

NSW Police confirmed Tuesday morning that the incident is under investigation and are urging anyone with more information and footage to come forward.

The company involved has also responded to the incident.

“I would have to say it was by far my worst experience dealing with a group in over 15 years of experience,” Moama told Nine News of Murray manager Damien Nunan.

“It left a very bad taste in our mouths.

“The group acted very aggressively and threateningly in their behavior and were caught shouting derogatory remarks at the female guests on our houseboat, boarding their boat without their permission and throwing full beer bottles at the houseboat near their departure.’