Shipwreck of Australia's Blythe Star found after sinking in 1973
On October 13, 1973, while making a routine trip from Hobart to King Island, the ship began to sink and capsized - possibly due to being overloaded with cargo.
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The 44-meter long, steel-hulled Blythe Star, pictured in Hobart before the fateful voyage. (Maritime Museum of Tasmania)
Investigators have uncovered the wrecks of a ship that sank 50 years ago near the Tasmanian coast.
The CSIRO agency said it found the remains of the MV Blythe Star whose crew members managed to survive in a most fascinating way.
On October 13, 1973, while making a routine trip from Hobart to King Island, the ship began to sink and capsized - possibly due to being overloaded with cargo.
My grandad Mal McCarroll was a survivor of the Blythe Star Disaster. After 50 long years, the wreckage has finally been found.
— Madeline Kerr (@madelinemaykerr) May 15, 2023
Watch my very special report tonight on @7tasnews special thanks to @CSIRO pic.twitter.com/dOFBHmUNoK
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The ten crewmembers who were on board got onto an inflatable life raft and struggled for nine days at sea in worsening weather before making landfall.
The crew, one of whom reportedly died at sea before reaching the shore, made a landing at Deep Glen Bay on the Forestier Peninsula where two other crew members died either due to exhaustion or hypothermia.
The seven last crew members were finally rescued on 26 October after finding a road where they signaled a passing motorist for help.
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According to the CSIRO agency, the location of the wreck was confirmed by RV Investigator on 12 April 2023 during a research voyage led by the University of Tasmania near the west coast of Tasmania.
The purpose of the voyage was to examine a massive underwater landslide in the region and included a 'piggyback' project to identify a shipwreck in the region which was previously signaled by fishing vessels and previous seafloor surveys.
The investigators used multibeam echosounders to identify the shipwreck, followed by a visual inspection of the site using two underwater camera systems, the agency noted.
