A local remembers what it was like the day the Capitaine Bougainville was lost

The day has come.  50 years ago, the Capitaine Bougainville was lost off the coast of Whananaki.

Sixteen people died in the tragedy.  Local Bruce Powell, now 96, remembers waking up that day in Moureeses Bay.

“On the radio we heard what was going on… so we went around to see what was happening.  Our family went way out to the point and we sat there and watched the whole thing happening,” says Bruce Powell.

You can listen to Bruce's full interview here:

The ship was bound for Sydney from Auckland, then on 3rd September 1975 during an easterly storm and in the middle of a 12-metre swell, it caught fire.

It started in the engine room, directly below the lifeboats.  It was then, at 3:40am Captain Jean-Raymond Thomas ordered folks to abandon ship.  The disaster claimed sixteen lives.