THE wreckage of the diminutive Australian National Line coastal freighter Noongah, which sank after its steel cargo shifted in heavy weather off the northern NSW coast in August 1969, has been found by the CSIRO research vessel Investigator.

The location of the wreck, around 12 miles off Nambucca Heads, has been confirmed through a collaborative project between CSIRO, Heritage NSW and The Sydney Project. Several members of the public also contributed to the project, including by pinpointing and reporting the suspected location of the sunken vessel.

The 1465 GRT Noongah, built in Glasgow in 1955, was on a routine voyage from Newcastle to Townsville with a mixed cargo of BHP steel products when it was caught in a Force 10 gale on 24 August 1969, causing it to take on a severe list before foundering around 0440 the following morning.

In one of the nation’s worst post-war maritime disasters, 21 of the 26 crew on board lost their lives in the incident and despite one of the largest searches for survivors in Australian maritime history, involving navy and merchant vessels, aircraft, helicopters and shore-based searches of beaches along the coast, only one body was ever recovered and the wreck of Noongah had never been found.

Investigator completed an investigation of the unidentified shipwreck in June 2024, collecting high resolution bathymetry (seafloor mapping data) and video footage of the wreck.

CSIRO Voyage Manager, Margot Hind, said the investigation showed the wreck is sitting upright on the seafloor and is largely intact.

“We were lucky to have favourable sea conditions for the survey and our CSIRO technical teams were able to gather excellent bathymetry and drop camera vision of the wreck,” Ms Hind said. “The bathymetry data shows the wreck is sitting at a depth of 170 metres and is approximately 71 metres long, with the vessel dimensions, profile and configuration matching Noongah.”

The data and vision collected by Investigator was provided to project partners to enable them to confirm the identity of the wreck and support planning for a dive by The Sydney Project to collect additional vision from the site.

The CSIRO has invited family members and descendants of the Noongah crew to make contact for further details of investigation and discovery.