Family waiting for wreck news

Duncan Sew Hoy.
Duncan Sew Hoy.
A Dunedin descendant of one of 499 Chinese gold miners lost at sea is excited about the possible discovery of the vessel carrying his body.

The SS Ventnor sank off the coast of Hokianga on October 28, 1902. Interested parties are now waiting for official confirmation the discovered wreck was the Ventnor.

''We think it is, but we need it to be 100%,'' Duncan Sew Hoy (79) told the Otago Daily Times yesterday.

Authorities in China and New Zealand had been notified, while the discovery had been gazetted by Heritage NZ, meaning no items could be removed from the wreck without permission.

Last week the ODT reported the Royal New Zealand Navy would help search for the wreckage next month, and that mission is still set to continue.

Mr Sew Hoy, who has been on a 17-year quest to return his ancestors' remains, said he had been aware of talk about the possible discovery of the wreck for many years.

The remains of the mainly Otago-based gold miners aboard the doomed ship included his great-grandfather, Choie Sew Hoy.

The Dunedin merchant had organised for the remains to be returned to China as per their custom, but died a year before the shipment.

The Sew Hoy family were the only known descendants of people on the vessel, as the manifest went down with the ship.

Ventnor Project Group leader John Albert said after three years of searching, the group found what was believed to be the SS Ventnor in about 150 metres of water, 21km due west of Hokianga Harbour, last year.

Heritage New Zealand Northland area manager Bill Edwards said footage taken of the wreckage was ''remarkable''.

''But it can't be confirmed until we get a name . . . or some other feature which identifies it clearly''.

He confirmed the wreckage had no legal protection until it was gazetted, and since that time all relevant government agencies had been notified.

The Sew Hoy family would be ''crucial'' in what would happen if any remains were found inside the hold.

Peter Sew Hoy, the son of Duncan Sew Hoy, said ''if it is the Ventnor I am very excited''.

However, he cautioned that the wreck was a ''tomb'' and needed to be respected.

A documentary by Dunedin company NHNZ on the wreckage, The Lost Voyage of 499, which was unrelated to the dive and reported discovery, screened on Maori TV this week.

hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz

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