Exhibition “La Monique or the Silence of the Sea” at the Noumea Maritime Museum
Since August 4, you can discover the exhibition “La Monique ou le silence de la Mer” at the Maritime Museum. To the beat of written documents, illustrations or photographs, the visitor learns about the last known events before the disappearance of the ship at sea on July 31, 1953.
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in Maritime Museuman entire floor dedicated to history Monique : from its manufacture at a New Zealand shipyard in 1947 to its disappearance at sea on July 31, 1953.”What was found as scant evidence compared to La Monique’s disappearance… After that, we don’t know exactly what happened at that time.Jean-Marie Kawa, Visitor sums up.
property of the waialty islands company, Monique It was used by the Rene Reuter Marine and Merchant Company to make two voyages between the Loyalty Islands and the mainland, in June and July 1953.When we see the list of 126 passengers, we realize that there are people who come from France, Vietnam and Melanesia from the islands.notes Jean-Claude, visitor. Indeed, La Monique is somewhat like the common destiny of this country. “
The copra trade and exports continuously thrived on the local shipping companies. “There are 126 of them, and the absolutely amazing thing is that they are almost all on the bridge and even part of the bridgesays Valerie Vatiere, director of the Maritime Museum. Why ? Because there was no more room anywhere else with 2,844 bags of copra, a car, parts from another boat that had been wrecked shortly before… The boat is overloaded.“
On July 31, 1953, the ship left Taden in Mare around 2 pm, the captain planning to arrive the next morning in Noumea. Monique will never arrive. “An area was selected according to a number of parameterssays Valerie Vater. noIncluding the time the boat departed, the last radio contact, the ship’s speed, the weather, sea currents, and clues found during the search. “
to find MoniqueThe work was carried out in 2010 byFortunes de Mer Association. They gave nothing. The mystery remains.
The exhibition is visible until 2024.
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