The return home for the miners who lived in New Zealand in the early 20th century is now possible.
The Chinese men had been buried in New Zealand and then disinterred from 40 cemeteries and were being sent home so that, according to the Chinese culture, their souls could be tended to by their families.
The miners, mostly from the Poon Yu county and some in the Jung Seng county of Guangdong province, had paid a dowry to the Chinese New Zealand community group Cheong Sing Tong so they could be returned home to their families when they died.
In some cases money was sent from China to help pay the passage home.
In 2012, Albert, together with New Zealand underwater explorer Keith Gordon, former NZ Dive magazine editor Dave Moran and cameraman Eruera Morgan, went searching for the Ventnor.
They were taken by local coastguard and fishing charter operators John and Linda Pattinson to an area the Pattinsons thought could be the resting place of the Ventnor and its ethereal cargo.
Using an echo sounder, Gordon was able to pin-point a large object on the ocean floor which he believed might be the wreck.
In 2013, a karakia was performed at the site by kaumatua Selwyn Pryor and local identity Maria Albert-Kaio. A remote-operated vehicle was then lowered down to the wreck site. With the footage obtained, Gordon was able to confirm it was the SS Ventnor.
In January 2014, reconnaissance divers from the Project Ventnor Group spent about 25 minutes investigating and filming the wreck.
Three months later, the group retrieved some artefacts from the ship to prove it was the Ventnor. The artefacts were now at the National Te Papa museum in Wellington. At that stage no evidence of human remains was found.
Albert said it had taken nine long years, much of the time working in dangerous and unforgiving conditions, to get to this point.
Everybody connected with the Project Ventnor Group worked without remuneration and their availability was conditional on getting time off work. Weather and sea conditions where the shipwreck lies also vary considerably, hindering the group's efforts, he said.
Using underwater remote-controlled cameras meant filming was able to be done from the surface without divers.
Albert had met families of the miners both in New Zealand and Poon Yu, but said there were "so many thousands more to find".
He was keen to let descendants know the remains of their kin had been found, and would welcome the opportunity to hear from them.
"The Chinese goldminers had been mistreated, and they died in a foreign country while trying to provide for their families back home. Their skills and hard work helped with not only mining, but also the building of infrastructure like roads, bridges, railway lines, as well as market gardening in New Zealand. They are our early pioneers."
In the documentary The Lost Voyage of 499, people spoke of their desire to find and return their ancestor, and other goldminers, to their homeland.
He hoped the discovery would help bring closure for all concerned.
"I cannot explain it. Call it a spiritual, cultural and humanitarian pull if you like, but after hearing about the sad fate of the miners, and their desire to return home I have felt a need to help them complete their journey.
"Lucky for me, within the Project Ventnor Group, we have some of the most driven, courageous, risk-taking and caring people on the planet.
"Just as we Māori have lobbied for the return of our kōiwi from museums and collectors from around the world, I feel an obligation to show the goldminers, our early settlers, the same respect and gratitude for their major contribution to our early history," he said.
