Cherry Venture 1973
Marker: recorded wreck position (Modern).
Key facts
| Name | Cherry Venture | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1973 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Modern | derived from year |
| Ship type | cargo ship | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Grounding or wreck on rocks | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | Australia | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Sea / ocean | Coral Sea | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Australia | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 7 km from land |
| Position | -25.9617, 153.1739 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
Cherry Venture was a 1600-ton cargo ship of Scandinavian origin. It ran aground on Teewah Beach in South East Queensland, Australia on 6 July 1973 and remained on the beach for 34 years until its removal in early 2007.
Diving & visiting
The wreck of the Cherry Venture occurred when the ship was travelling from Auckland to Brisbane, under the command of Captain Seluenu. It was caused by a combination of severe storms and a lack of cargo. Buoys in the area recorded wave heights of up to 40 ft (12 m). The ship battled against the waves for hours, facing directly into the wind and making no headway, before her captain issued a mayday call at 6:50am. 9 Squadron RAAF, based at Amberley air base, answered that call, dispatching Iroquois rescue helicopters, fitted with winches, to assist in the evacuation of the ship.
Salvage rights to the wreck were purchased by Peter Vagellas, an Australian entrepreneur, who intended to re-float the vessel and convert it into a luxury liner and floating casino to serve the Great Barrier Reef. In 1977, he began unsuccessful attempts to refloat the ship. Eight major salvage efforts over the years failed, after which a fire gutted the interior of the ship and Vagellas abandoned his endeavour, after spending over a quarter of a million dollars.
Location
- Recorded position: -25.9617, 153.1739 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Coral Sea
- Nearest coast: Australia
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Cherry Venture (revision 1351157565), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Cause of the wreck”, “Salvage attempts”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- SS Maheno 78 km
- SS Marloo 113 km
- Duke of York 1837 · 121 km
- AHS Centaur 1943 · 168 km
Browse more: Oceania wrecks · wrecks off Australia · Coral Sea · Modern