Shellharbour volunteer recounts battle for survival at sea

Harrowing story of survival from half a century ago

Recently, MR Shellharbour member Bill Cockley recounted the sinking of the bulk carrier Noongah off Smokey Cape to the Australian Maritime Workers’ Journal as part of its commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the tragedy.

Bill was one of only five survivors out of 26 crew when the MV Noongah and her load of steel went down on 25 August 1969 in the worst recent peacetime maritime tragedy in Australian coastal waters.

In pitch darkness and a howling gale that had whipped up a heavy swell, the ship’s captain had lost control of the carrier, and at 3.55am radioed for help. At 4.47am he signalled again that the crew were abandoning ship, with the 26 Australian seafarers on board having just 14 minutes to escape before the Noongah went down.

By a twist of fate then Able Seaman Bill Cockley was not meant to be on the Noongah that fateful night. Rostered on the Iron Kimberley, he had asked for a transfer to the Noongah so he could be back in time for his wedding.

Bill said thoughts of his family and his forthcoming wedding helped him to survive.

“One of the main things that kept me going was I had to survive because the woman I was going to marry had our baby girl. She was only 8-10 months old,” said Bill.

As daylight broke, Bill and two other survivors drifted south. Around 10 that morning, the three men sighted a search plane far off, but no one was looking that far from shore. Hours went by with the men continually battered by large waves, debris and rain squalls.

In the late afternoon they sighted a bulk carrier and waved and called out, but it passed without anyone seeing them.

With dusk threatening, after more than 12 hours in the water, they sighted the Adelaide Steam bulk carrier Meringa.

“We started yelling and waving

our arms, and a couple of the crew waved back,” said Bill.

“Crew members threw us life buoys on lines and we were pulled onto the ship’s side, where we climbed up the gangway net to safety.”

Despite his brush with death, Bill was not deterred from heading out on the water, spending 28 years at sea and a further 28 years doing voluntary marine rescue, and despite advancing years, he still heads out on the water with his MR Shellharbour crewmates once a month.

The man who was rescued, now devotes his time to rescuing others.

Thanks to the Australian Maritime Workers’ Journal for permission to reproduce extracts of Bill’s story.

he still heads out on the water with his MR Shellharbour “ crewmates... The man who was rescued, now rescues others.“

Bill Cockley graces the front cover of the AMW Journal. Photo: Courtesy Australian Maritime Workers’ Journal