MV Fairwind (MSL 251) was an Australian Motor Stores Lighter wrecked off the New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 coast in 1950. MSL 251 and her sister ship, MSL 252 (later ), were built by Tulloch's Pty Ltd for the Australian Army

Australian Army

The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...

. Completed in September 1946, the vessel was loaned to the Department of External Affairs and used for fishery surveys by the Papua and New Guinea Administration. The Department renamed the vessel MV Fairwind.

Loss

In 1950, while on passage from Port Moresby

Port Moresby

Port Moresby , or Pot Mosbi in Tok Pisin, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea . It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, which made it a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43...

 to Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, Fairwind disapperaed off the mid-north coast of New South Wales during a cyclone

Cyclone

In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...

. She was last sighted near Smoky Cape

Smoky Cape

Smoky Cape is a headland in Australia on the New South Wales Mid-North Coast. It lies just east of the town of South West Rocks, and within the Hat Head National Park.- Cape :...

. The ship's last communication was a radio report on 23 June 23, where she indicated that she was seeking shelter behind North Solitary Island

North solitary island

North Solitary Island is one of the largest islands found off the New South Wales coast and inside the continental shelf. It is located 40 km north-east of Coffs Harbour and about 13 km east-south-east of Wooli. The island is divided into two sections by a channel...

 short of fuel, but that she would attempt to reach Coffs Harbour. Despite an extensive land and air search, the crew of 17, including 12 Papuans

Papuan peoples

Papuan is a cover term for the various indigenous peoples of New Guinea and neighboring islands, speakers of so-called Papuan languages. They are often distinguished linguistically from Austronesians, speakers of a language family introduced into New Guinea about three thousand years ago, but this...

, were not found.

Rediscovery

The fate of MV Fairwind was not positively established until August 2009, when her wreck was found in deep water off South West Rocks by a team of amateur divers. The wreck sits upright at a depth of 87 metres (285.4 ft). The wreck itself is mostly intact, with the forward and aft king posts projecting 15 metres (49.2 ft) from the seabed.