The shipwreck of one of Australia’s worst peace-time maritime disasters has finally been found. In august 1969 the MV Noongah left Newcastle with a cargo of steel bound for Queensland, but it never made it. Survivors and families of the 21 men who died - say the discovery has given them a sense of closure.
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00:00It's still a dismal day up here on the north coast of New South Wales.
00:06Naval vessels and merchant ships are combining with service aircraft to search for survivors
00:11of the Noongar.
00:12It's been hidden from view for more than five decades, but not anymore.
00:18These are images of the MV Noongar taken following the wreckage's discovery last month.
00:24Twenty-one seamen died when it sank during a storm.
00:28Only one body was recovered and just five men survived.
00:33It has had a big effect on me because, as I say, with the shock of everything that happened
00:40so quickly in the beginning, me, I've been trying to keep it out of my mind.
00:47Second Engineer John Wirth was interviewed just after being rescued.
00:51His recollection remains strong to this day.
00:54I jumped off the stern of the vessel just before it went under.
00:59I wasn't thinking about sharks or anything like that.
01:02I just didn't want to go with the ship.
01:06The 88-year-old has been meeting some of the victim's families.
01:10Disclosure.
01:11For me, yeah.
01:13I mean I knew I'd never see my father again.
01:16We all knew that we'd never see our families, the family members again and we accept that
01:21and yeah, it's great that they've been able to find the ship.
01:28Pamela Hendy lost her husband Leo Botsman, the ship's captain.
01:33It's relief in a way because it's always been at the back of your mind.
01:38She vividly remembers her last memories of Leo.
01:41The last time I saw him was the day man walked on the moon.
01:46I took him to the airport and dropped him off and waved goodbye and raced home to watch
01:53the landing on the moon.
01:55The modern day search for the Noongar started in 2019.
01:59The first images of the shipwreck will go down in maritime history.
02:04At the time of its sinking, I believe it led to one of Australia's biggest maritime search
02:09and rescue efforts.
02:11So to kind of find that and close the loop is of huge significance.
02:16Vision from the site also shows the dangers survivors faced.
02:21As the cameras were being brought up, we did see two large sharks off in the distance.
02:26Maritime archaeologists are excited at what the shipwreck can tell us about our past.
02:31We can look at them as really important reminders of how things were just say 55 years ago and
02:39how important the steelworks were in Newcastle and what that meant for transport and trade
02:43in our nation.
02:45Not only is finding the Noongar significant for Australian history, it's also seen as
02:50a tribute to the men who never returned home.
02:53They lost their lives but we don't forget them and we go out there and we find where
02:58their final resting place is.
03:01A 55-year-old mystery solved at last.