Maritime mystery solved after more than 50 years

By jnally on 26 July, 2024

*The Australian National Line coastal freighter MV* Noongah, see here arriving in Hobart sometime after 1956, sank of the NSW mid-north coast in 1969. Courtesy ANMM.

A bathymetric survey performed by CSIRO’s RV Investigator has identified the wreck of the MV Noongah.

By Jonathan Nally

Six hours. That’s all the time that members of CSIRO’s Geophysical Survey and Mapping (GSM) team aboard the research vessel RV Investigator had available to attempt to map the location of one of Australia’s worst post-WWII maritime disasters.

Their efforts have led to the identification of the wreck of the MV Noongah, a cargo ship that had been carrying steel on a voyage from Newcastle and Townsville when it encountered heavy seas on 25 August 1969 and sank off the mid-north coast of NSW, with the loss of 21 lives.

The loss of the 71-metre-long coastal freighter led to one of the largest searches in Australia’s history, which involved navy and merchant vessels, fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and scans for wreckage along the coast.

Despite those efforts, the wreck of the MV Noongah was not located. Until now, that is.

While conducting voyage IN2024_V04 aboard RV Investigator to study the influence of submarine canyons on ocean dynamics and marine life along the east coast of Australia, the GSM team was allocated a maximum of six hours to investigate a shipwreck that had been detected in 2021 approximately 17 kilometres off the NSW coast, between Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour.

*The MV* Noongah *sank approximately 17 kilometres off the NSW coast.*

That earlier detection by RV Investigator had comprised a single-pass bathymetric survey. The limited data it gathered (due to time constraints) made it impossible at that time to effect an identification of the wreck.

Fast forward to June 2024 and, as part of the ‘Unidentified Shipwreck Investigation,’ a maximum of six hours survey time was assigned as a ‘piggyback project’ during voyage IN2024_V04.

With the RV Investigator sailing at just 4 knots, at 3 o’clock in the morning the team began a multibeam echosounder survey using a Kongsberg EM 710 (frequency 70-100 kHz), making a series of reciprocal line passes in a grid pattern over the wreck with beam angles reduced to 30° (port and starboard) to increase sounding density.

*The CSIRO project team in the RV* Investigator *operations room conducting the drop camera survey. Image courtesy CSIRO/Margot Hind.*

Approximately four hours later, 300,000 soundings had been collected. Processing of both the bathymetry and multibeam water column data was performed in near-real time to ensure the team had enough soundings to assess the safety of the wreck — e.g. no masts or lines that might have interfered with the survey or posed a snag hazard — for a drop camera deployment.

The drop camera investigation lasted approximately another 1.5 hours.

According to CSIRO Voyage Manager, Margot Hind, the wreck is sitting upright on the seafloor and is largely intact.

*A bird’s eye view of the wreck of the MV* Noongah, constructed from bathymetry soundings. Image © CSIRO.

“We were lucky to have favourable sea conditions for the survey and our CSIRO technical teams were able to gather excellent bathymetry and drop camera vision of the wreck,” Ms Hind said.

“The bathymetry data shows the wreck is sitting at a depth of 170 metres and is approximately 71 metres long, with the vessel dimensions, profile and configuration matching MV Noongah.”

*The drop camera’s first view of MV* Noongah. Image © CSIRO.

The location of the wreck was confirmed through a collaboration between CSIRO, Heritage NSW and The Sydney Project, along with assistance from several members of the public who reported the location of the suspected shipwreck.

CSIRO’s Matt Kimber, who kept key stakeholders informed of the outcome of the survey, said the situation is a reminder of the importance of such maritime heritage discoveries.

“This tragedy is still very much in the memory of many in the community and we offer our condolences to families and descendants of the crew who were lost,” Mr Kimber said.

“Our thoughts are also with the surviving crew members from MV Noongah, and we hope that knowing the resting place of the vessel brings some closure for all.”

*CSIRO Voyage Manager, Margot Hind, and CSIRO Group Leader (Engagement), Matt Kimber. Images courtesy Museums Victoria/Benjamin Healley and CSIRO/Maren Preuss.*

Mr Samir Alhafith from The Sydney Project said that “Not only is the discovery of these significant wrecks important for the surviving sailors and families of those that perished during the tragedy but also it allows us to investigate the mystery behind the sinking.”

“We would like to express our gratitude to the founders of the wreck, Paul and James Wright, and to Heritage NSW and CSIRO for their assistance to identify the wreck as the Noongah,” he added. “These collaborations are more important than ever when dealing with challenging deep sites.”

Mr Tim Smith OAM, Director Assessments from Heritage NSW, added that “We hope this discovery of the ship’s final resting place offers the survivors and families of the crew some closure.”