Maria Luisa tragedy Wellington Harbour 1996
I am the only survivour of the 1996 Maria Luisa tragedy. We were on the fishing trawler Maria Luisa 15342 when it collided with the Sydney Express, a containership, in the Wellington Harbour Channel near where the interisland ferry Wahine sank. The Westpac Rescue Chopper was on the scene within minutes as well as the Aratika ferry which was due outward for the South Island. The Sydney Express left us no draught and we ran out of depth then got hit by the container ship.