Diver's body retrieved 10 days after going missing in Northland

Tuesday, 7 April 2020

The body of a man who went missing after diving a wreck in Northland has been retrieved 10 days later.

The man failed to surface on March 15 after diving the Niagara, a trans-Pacific liner which sunk in June 1940 after striking mines laid by a German raider.

More than 100 metres underwater, the wreck near the Hen and Chicken Islands, 40km southeast of Whangārei, should only be accessed by experienced divers.

German mines blew a hole in the RMS Niagara during World War II and it has been degrading off the coast of Whangārei ever since.

Police said the man's body was retrieved on March 25 thanks to an exercise between it, Customs and the Defence Force.

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More than 100 metres underwater, a remote underwater vehicle was used to locate the missing diver's body.

The man's dive buddy had made it down to 65m in an attempt to retrieve him on March 15, but ended up calling for assistance.

The Coastguard and HMNZS Wellington searched the area, but were unsuccessful.

Northland SAR co-ordinator Sergeant Shane Turner told Ten One Magazine he knew he was probably looking at a recovery operation after the man was not found within 24 hours.

A team of 16 people from police, Customs and the Defence Force then spent a week working up a plan to retrieve the diver and sitting out a cyclone.

The team unsuccessfully battled 21-knot winds and 1.4m swells on March 24, so returned again the next day due to improved weather.

Using a remote underwater vehicle (ROV), as police and navy officers could not dive at such depths, the man's body was 'carefully' retrieved.

'The depth made it a challenging job, but the whole team was pleased to at least be able to recover a family member, friend and colleague's body. We could not have done it without the help of the navy, Customs and our dive team,' Turner said.

Supervising Customs officer Nick Sparey said the Hawk V recover vessel was able to hold its position precisely over the wreck for more than nine hours, allowing the ROV to be deployed from the vessel to search the wreck.

Police Disaster Victim Identification specialists identified the diver.

An investigation has been launched to establish the cause of the death, which will be subject to a coroner's investigation.