MV Noongah wreck discovered 55-years after ship was lost at sea
One of the biggest searches in Australian maritime history is finally over more than half a century after it began. 21 men died when the M-V Noongah sank en-route from Newcastle to Townsville. It is a wreck that was seemingly lost to the ocean. Now the cargo ship’s final resting place has been discovered giving survivors and relatives a sense of closure.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00It's been hidden from view for more than five decades, but not anymore.
00:07These are images of the MV Noongar taken following the wreckage's discovery last month.
00:13Twenty-one seamen died when it sank during a storm.
00:17Just five men survived.
00:19With the shock of everything that happened so quickly in the beginning, and me, I've
00:24been trying to keep it out of my mind.
00:27Wreckage engineer John Wirth's recollection remains strong to this day.
00:31I wasn't thinking about sharks or anything like that, I just didn't want to go with the
00:36ship.
00:37The 88-year-old has been meeting some of the victim's families.
00:41Disclosure for me, yeah.
00:43I mean I knew I'd never see my father again.
00:46It's great that they've been able to find the ship.
00:49Pamela Hendy lost her husband Leo Botsman, the ship's captain.
00:54It's relief in a way, because it's always been at the back of your mind.
00:59The modern day search for the Noongar started in 2019.
01:02At the time of its sinking, I believe it led to one of Australia's biggest maritime search
01:07and rescue efforts, so to kind of find that and close the loop is of huge significance.
01:14Not only is finding the Noongar significant for Australian history, it's also seen as
01:19a tribute to the men who never returned home.
01:23They lost their lives, but we don't forget them and we go out there and we find where
01:29their final resting place is.
01:30A 55-year-old mystery solved at last.