June 25, 2020
Remains found in Ventnor wreck
A film crew working on documentary about the wreck of a ship taking the bodies of gold miners back home to China have found remains 21 kilometres off the Northland Coast.
The SS Ventnor left Westport in October 1902 carrying the bodies of 501 Chinese men, mostly gold miners, back to China, but struck a reef near Taranaki and eventually sank off the Hokianga heads.
Local Māori looked after the surviving crew and buried those who perished in their urupā.
Project Ventnor Group and documentary maker Definitive Productions first found and filmed the wreck in 2013, but last month’s discovery using the latest Boxfish remote controlled underwater cameras was the first confirmation the remains were still there.
Project Ventnor chair John Albert says he wants to let descendants of the miners know the remains of their kin have been found, and also to celebrate the contribution Chinese made to building New Zealand.
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