Mystery wreck off Wellington
A mystery shipwreck has been discovered ‘‘beyond the point of safe return’’ off Wellington’s South Coast.
Rob Wilson, of Ghost Fishing, and two others were diving off Owhiro Bay on Sunday when they discovered the wreck – a long distance from known wrecks in the area – and in an area few divers ever ventured because of a treacherous rip and the long swim.
He is not making any firm predictions about what it is but suspects it may be the wreck of a fishing boat, The Crescent, which sunk in the 1930s. While less likely, it could also be previously undiscovered parts of the area’s known wrecks, he said.
‘‘It’s a very exciting find – we are not 100 per cent what wreck it is yet
– but I took a lot of images of the hull ribs which are on the sea floor.
‘‘We have dived this coast extensively for many years but have never seen this wreck.’’
Maritime archaeologist Andy Dodd, who surveyed the coast, believed the find was more likely from a boat, Progress, already known about in the area. ‘‘Wreckage can be strewn across reasonably large areas, and the remains that I have seen from the Progress are not dissimilar to these, and are fairly well dispersed.
‘‘I think it would be prudent to get more definitive diagnostic evidence before attributing it to a different shipwreck.’’