NZBC Classics - Wahine Disaster

On 10 April 1968 the Lyttelton–Wellington ferry Wahine ran aground and sank at the entrance to Wellington Harbour. Fifty-three people died as a result of the accident, 51 on the day. These news features include aerial footage of the ship after the storm, and NZBC reporters conducting dramatic interviews with survivors, police and the head of the Union Steam Ship Company. Coverage was only seen by mainlanders after a cameraman rushed to Kaikoura and filmed a TV set that could receive a signal from Wellington, then returned to Christchurch so the footage could be broadcast.

[The NZBC team] worked under extreme conditions to shoot the film, in torrential rain and gale force winds, losing 1000 feet of film through water entering their cameras. Water marks here and there on the film show the sort of situation in which it was shot....

– Listener article on the NZ Broadcasting Corporation's win at the World Newsfilm Awards, 6 December 1968

Key Cast & Crew

Keith Aberdein

Reporter

John Blick

Camera

Gary Cunningham

Camera

Peter Brian

Narrator

Bill Alexander

Reporter

Brian Shennan

Sound