KEY POINTS:
Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior is deteriorating under water off the Northland coast but it has become an international legend for divers, say dive operators.
The Greenpeace vessel was blown up and sunk alongside Marsden Wharf in Auckland by French secret agents in 1985, days before it was due to head into the Pacific to protest against French nuclear testing.
After salvage experts patched the holes blown in the hull by two limpet mines, it was towed across the harbour to the Devonport navy base and put in the dry dock, where stronger repairs were done.
It was then towed to the Northland coast and sunk in Matauri Bay as a dive attraction and memorial to Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira, who died when he went back on board to retrieve camera gear after the first mine exploded.
The aluminium superstructure had deteriorated badly since it was sunk in December 1987 but Kelly Weeds, from Paihia Dive HQ, said its popularity among overseas divers was growing rapidly.
He said over the summer about 100 divers should explore the wreck every week.
Mr Weeds said one room in the ship was still accessible to divers.
"It was never a ship we swam into very often. It is not very big."
Overseas divers loved the ship, he said. "It is a legend."
The Rainbow Warrior had the international intrigue of a ship bombed in New Zealand waters by a friendly country, he said.
He said people expected a bigger ship but when they dived on it they loved it.
Its popularity was expected to increase as it deteriorated and people realised it would not last forever.
"We are planning to dive on it every single day this summer."
-NZPA
