New Zealand's greatest maritime mystery has been solved with documentary makers discovering the remains of Chinese miners in a century-old shipwreck off the Northland coast.
The ill-fated SS Ventnor left Westport for China in 1902, it became a shipwreck that's been stuck off the Hokianga Coast for nearly 120 years.
Onboard were the bodies of 499 Chinese goldminers who'd died in the brutal conditions of the South Island goldfields.
Their bodies were disinterred to fulfill their wishes of a burial in their homeland.
But the trip was doomed, hitting a reef and sinking in the Tasman Sea.
Documentary-maker John Albert who led the first dive team to reach the ship in 2014 made the discovery of human remains last month using an underwater camera.
“I was over the moon, elated. It was like nine years of lots of roadblocks, barriers, trials and out of the blue it was there," Mr Albert told 1 NEWS.
Speaking for the families, Ventnor Committee Chairman, Meng Foon says some are treating the news with trepidation.
“Hugely important for the descendants that are here. So it's a significant find and at the end of the day we want to make sure they're treated respectfully in our customary way."
The body of Choie Sew Hoy was onboard. He was a prominent Otago businessman and a pioneer of gold-dredging in New Zealand.
He had organised the mission to return the bodies to China but then died himself.
His great great grandson was shocked at the discovery.
“This has come like a bolt of lightning out of the sky. In a way it’s quite exciting but we need time to think. About the significance and the consequences,” Peter Sew Hoy told 1 NEWS.
Police have been told of the find but any step to shift the remains would need approval from descendants.
“The shipwreck is a cemetery, it’s a sacred place,” says Mr Sew Hoy.
The discovery means a final return journey may now be possible.
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