The Bombing of Rainbow Warrier NZ 10 July 1985
11 July 2025
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This month is the 40th Anniversary of the bombing and sinking of the Greenpeace flagship the Rainbow Warrier I, on the 10 July 1985 in the Auckland harbour, New Zealand.
This month, on 10 July 2025, there was a dawn ceremony held in New Zealand to reflect on the moment and to acknowledge the importance of the fight for a nuclear-free Pacific for now and the generations to come.
This was a complex sabotage plot sanctioned by the French Government. The French Secret Service (DGSE) agents were sent to prevent the Greenpeace ship from leaving for another protest campaign. The agents attached two limpet mines to the hull of the ship to disable the vessel which was preparing to sail and protest the French nuclear weapon testing in the Moruroa Atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago and Islands of the South Pacific. The explosion created a massive hole that rendered the vessel useless and to sink. The attack was to silence the Green Peace and Anti Nuclear movement, and this only made it stronger.
Greenpeace member and photographer, Fernanado Pereira was trapped and drowned that night, 10 July 1985. He went to retrieve his camera equipment after the first explosion, and then there was a second explosion, which resulted in his death.
New Zealand Prime Minister, the late David Lange, enforced New Zealand’s anti-nuclear policies. After the 1985 sinking of the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrier I, his reputation was exceptional in the debate of nuclear power and stopping nuclear ships visiting New Zealand ports and coastal areas.
This month there has been interesting historic news articles shared on Social Media, including video clips, photographs, Police reports, and other news reports. I was sad reading the posts, remembering the horror that the French could attack a Greenpeace ship and kill a person, in New Zealand.
The investigation was big, within two days, two French (DGSE) agents, officers Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart, were arrested in New Zealand, when attempting to leave the country. They both stood trial in New Zealand and charged with murder. After pleading guilty to manslaughter, they each received a 10-year prison sentence. Within a year, the pair were sent to French Polynesia, and from there they soon returned to France.
By the time the mines exploded on the Rainbow Warrior’s hull at 11.38 and 11.45pm on 10 July, the Ouvéa had already sailed for Norfolk Island. The sabotage team headed south, enjoying a skiing break at Mt Hutt before flying out.
(NZ Police Report Article, see the link below.)
Others made a quick escape from New Zealand on a yacht, and they stopped at Norfolk Island, and were detained, but could not be held long enough for authorities to travel to Norfolk Island, so on legal grounds they were released and sailed off into the South Pacific and it is said they were transferred onto a French Navy Submarine.
The Ouvéa was sailed to Norfolk Island after the bombing. After New Zealand Police arrested two other agents still in New Zealand, the Ouvéa set to sea and was scuttled, while the crew transferred to the French submarine Rubis, to make their escape. (Wikipedia)
Here a couple of links, history and news items of the Rainbow Warrier I.
AUDIO: Rainbow Warrior bombing 40 years on
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-10/rainbow-warrior-bombing-40-years-on-/105518480
Moruroa Atoll Map - Locality - Îles Tuamotu-Gambier, French Polynesia
Moruroa Atoll
Moruroa, also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is located about 1,250 kilometres southeast of Tahiti.
New Zealand Police Report Article.
SPECIAL REPORT: On the 40th anniversary of the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, key members of the investigation team reflect on their roles in these landmark events.
By the time the mines exploded on the Rainbow Warrior’s hull at 11.38 and 11.45pm on 10 July, the Ouvéa had already sailed for Norfolk Island. The sabotage team headed south, enjoying a skiing break at Mt Hutt before flying out.
A team flew to Norfolk Island, with a 24-hour window under Australian law to interview the Ouvéa crew and search the yacht.
What the search threw up put the yacht’s involvement beyond doubt, but too late – they could not legally hold the crew. They sailed before evidence could be analysed and warrants could be obtained, the yacht was scuttled, and the crew transferred to the French submarine Rubis.
'Holiday snaps' of the Ouvéa's crew were found on a camera seized when the boat was searched. Labelled for evidential purposes, but the crew were beyond reach.
'Holiday snaps' of the Ouvéa's crew were found on a camera seized when the boat was searched. Labelled for evidential purposes, but the crew were beyond reach.
A team went to France, where a high degree of cooperation from local police suddenly stopped as the political dimension of the affair grew.
A team member who visited the Rainbow Warrior to gather intel on the day of the attack was interviewed in Papeete. The doctor from the Ouvéa was found in a Sydney cinema. In many cases evidence came too late, and suspects returned to France, where they were out of reach.
The skiing sabotage team flew out of New Zealand and vanished.
'Holiday snaps' of the Ouvéa's crew were found on a camera seized when the boat was searched. Labelled for evidential purposes, but the crew were beyond reach.
It was a shocking and sad time in New Zealand, the news of an attack on the Greenpeace flag ship Rainbow Warrier I, as remained a reminder to many of the importance of caring for our environment and that no Nation has the right to damage the oceans and islands homes of remote communities. The effects of the “Nuclear Weapon Testing” has long lasting effects on the Atolls and island communities , as well as marine and other flora and fauna of the areas.
Here are a few images from the internet of the Rainbow Warrier I in July 1985 and the special 40th Anniversary ceremony held in Auckland on 10 July 2025.
Betty Matthews
11 July 2025