The unsightly hulk off the coast of the Port Kembla coal loader is expected to be gone by April.

Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) awarded the job of removing the barge, which has sat there for seven years, to Polaris Marine.

RMS took control of the removal – and the costs – in late 2014 when Oceanlinx went into administration owing $10 million.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra Gareth Ward said work on the removal of the barge will start within days.

“Next week, a barge to remove Oceanlinx is expected to arrive and will be berthed at Port Kembla until favourable weather conditions enable a 50-tonne dislodged section of the steel structure to be removed,” Mr Ward said.

“This section was damaged by storms in June this year and needs to be removed as a priority for safety reasons.”

This section will be taken to Newcastle where the steel will be recycled.

Following that, inspections of the submerged sections of the Oceanlinx barge will be carried out to decide the best method of removal and disposal.

“The work schedule will be dependent on the ocean conditions, which need to be calm with high tides required to safely complete the process, but RMS aims to complete the removal as soon as practical,” Mr Ward said.

“It is anticipated work will be complete by April next year.”

The removal will mark the end of a long-running saga that began in 2009 when Oceanlinx decommissioned the generator after operating it for three years.

Despite repeated attempts to get Oceanlinx to clean up its mess – including the threat of legal action – the company made no serious effort to remove it.

Even though the company went into receivership owing millions, the Mercury reported in June that former CEO Ali Baghaei has restarted the company and is now operating in Taiwan.