Shaping the 'ghost ship' narrative

Rescuers, crew members and lifeboats from the Ventnor on Omapere Beach, Hokianga Harbour in 1902. DRUMMOND/TE WAKE COLLECTION

Opinion

It went down 113 years ago, with substantial loss of life and 5357 tonnes of West Coast coal on board.

But the so-called "ghost ship" SS Ventnor is best remembered for the macabre addition to its manifest of 499 coffins.

The steamer's 1902 voyage to Hong Kong was to have been the second repatriation of Chinese gold miners' remains to their native land.

Many of them were old men from Otago/Greymouth areas who'd been unable to earn enough money for the passage home.

No human remains were sighted by the divers who visited the wreck off Hokianga Harbour last year and it's understood that currents may have removed any which were once present.

Technical diver Sandy Varin prepares to descend 150 metres to the wreck of the SS Ventnor.

But following the sinking many coffins washed up on Northland beaches and were respectfully buried by local Maori.

When the Ventnor hit a rock off the Taranaki coast and eventually sank it was a bitter blow both for families in China and Chinese donors in New Zealand.

They believed the men's spirits would not be at ease, as being far from family and in a watery grave, there'd be no-one to tend to their needs in the afterlife.

You'd be heartless to be unmoved by this.

Expatriate labourers from China contributed much to economies of New Zealand,

Australia, Canada and the United States but endured relentless anti-Chinese prejudice.

Some of it was popular racism, from the likes of the White New Zealand League, but also discrimination built into the system, in the form of unjust taxes.

Some of the artifacts from the SS Ventnor displayed during a media conference relating to the discovery of the ship that sank off the Hokianga in 1902.

In 2002 our government belatedly apologised to the Chinese community for the suffering caused by the poll tax.

So the fate of the dead miners aboard the Ventnor seems particularly cruel. In life they'd toiled on the goldfields every day with - as it were - two strikes against them. Then, in death, even the plans to provide them a culturally appropriate burial, were frustrated.

But the loss of this steamer was not merely a tragedy for the dead.

When one of the lifeboats failed to clear the sinking ship in time Captain Henry Ferry and 12 crew were drowned. So 13 sons, brothers, husbands and fathers didn't come home. This heavy loss of life puts the Ventnor sinking at median level on the long list of New Zealand maritime disasters.

Some of the artifacts from the SS Ventnor displayed during a media conference relating to the discovery of the ship that sank off the Hokianga in 1902.

In my view, descendants of both the seafarers who perished and Chinese miners whose remains were lost, are entitled to strong feelings on the matter, even if I don't always agree with them. But I think the way this story has been represented by others has been questionable at times.

I'd like the challenge some of those who've shaped the Ventnor narrative to date, but first some accolades to those who've worked hard to bring it back to life:

* Accolade: Chinese Historic Ventnor Group spokesperson Wong Liu Sheung. Ms Wong and some others in the Chinese community have played the key role in reviving the Ventnor tale. In 2007, while making a short film about the Ventnor, Ms Wong made contact with Te Roroa, the local iwi of the southern Hokianga area. They confirmed that their ancestors had found bones from the wreck and that they had been buried in various locations along the coast. Some of these locations are still known. Ms Wong is working on a book on the Ventnor and an historic trail which will enable tourists to visit locations where remains of some of the miners are buried.

* Accolade: Northland film maker and Maori identity John Albert. Mr Albert's Ventnor Project Group discovered the wreck with the assistance of an under water submersible in December 2012. It was confirmed as the SS Ventnor in early 2013. Contrary to some reports, the location was never definitively known to Hokianga fishermen before this time. (Though some locals did know a ship "was down there", and may have had suspicions as to which one it was).

Mr Albert got involved following a kind of epiphany five years ago, while looking out from the Hokianga Heads at sunset. It was, he says, as if a tui was calling out to him on behalf of the dead who wanted to be found. He and his group have endured unfair criticism and accusations of being "treasure" or "souvenir hunters". But they have operated according to tikanga and without their efforts the location of this important wreck would have remained a mystery.

* Accolade: Underwater explorer Keith Gordon. He is a fellow of the New York based Explorers Club, whose roll of honour includes Sir Edmund Hillary, Neil Armstrong and Ranulph Finnes. Mr Gordon supplied the submersible used to identify the wreck and contacts to link the Ventnor Project Group with elite technical divers from Australia. These divers - Sandy Varin, Dave Bardi and Dave Hurst - are on a very short list of operators capable of working at the staggering depth of 150 metres. Each of them use dive computers and mixed gas re-breather gear, a full set of equipment costing $85,000.

Their remarkable journey to the deepest New Zealand wreck ever dived on, is related in an article co-written by Mr Gordon and NZ Dive Magazine editor Dave Moran.

Well, those are my Ventnor heroes. Here are some more who, in my view anyway, should fill out a "please explain" note:

Brickbat: Heritage New Zealand. Last November, following lobbying from Ms Wong's group and without consulting Mr Albert's group, Heritage abruptly gazetted the Ventnor wreck. Now nothing beyond the few items already removed for identification could be brought to the surface.

This was unprecedented, as in the past items were allowed to be removed from wrecks younger than 1900 (the Ventnor went down in 1902).

The trouble is that beyond a crude power of veto, Heritage seems to have little interest in this, or any of the other 2000-plus wrecks off our coast.

And while some older objects with stories to tell, should arguably be left in situ, the fact is most wreck sites are rapidly turning to rust, or being obliterated by the elements.

Objects of interest are being lost every day and only divers can bring them to the surface.
Heritage needs to differentiate between souvenir hunters and those groups with a genuine interest in archaeology. In my view, if Heritage is serious about preserving maritime history it needs to open a dialogue with those in the latter category.

Brickbat: Dame Susan Devoy. Last November Race Relations Commissioner sent a odd press release accusing the Ventnor Project group of attempting to turn the Ventnor into, "a money making venture and tourist attraction".

The Ventnor Project Group had no such plans.

Ms Devoy may have been confused by a Northern Advocate article earlier that month plugging the potential of the Ventnor as a tourist attraction.

This quoted Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis, who said in his view the site could be significant for tourists from China.

With seas particularly rough where the ship lies, and only a handful of divers capable of reaching it, tourism there seems unlikely.

Also, the general tone of Dame Susan's press release suggested that the Chinese community is alone in retaining an interest in the Ventnor wreck.

Chinese New Zealanders certainly have a valid interest, but so too do descendants of the 13 seafarers who died and presumably the descendants of the ship's owners.

Brickbat: The press. Some journalists have done their best to give both sides of the story, while some seem to have adopted an approach of, "get one side today and the other tomorrow". Florid headlines have included "Ventnor searchers slammed", "wreck treasure hunters face tough penalties" and "Stiff fines for wreck thieves".

Many news stories have solely quoted the Chinese Historic Ventnor Group, and some of these have all been alarmist in their tone. In some, members of the Ventnor Project Group have been portrayed as thieves and profiteers.

* Mr Albert intends to give a press conference next month, to give the Ventnor Project Group's side of the story.