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Athina B

Athina B aground on Brighton beach

Photo by Tom O'Connor

Policing the wreck

By Tom O'Connor

I was a Police Officer in Brighton in 1980 when the Athina B ran aground. I often carried a camera with me in the police car and took a number of photos of the scene.

Embedded on the beach
The picture shows the stricken vessel firmly embedded on the beach, watched by a crowd of onlookers. The crane to the left of the picture was used to remove the cargo of pumice and the crew's possessions.

Thousands of sightseers
The site was visited by thousands of people both day and night. Along with many other officers I spent some time guarding the vessel from souvenir hunters and prospective looters.

My name is Tom O'Connor, originally from Ireland. I was a Police Officer in Brighton for 20 years. I am retired now and still live in Brighton."

text and photo contributed to the website on a workshop, 14/10/02

This page was added on 22/03/2006.

Comments about this page

I now live in New Zealand but I remember going to work and seeing this amazing site the morning it happened. I remember it like yesterday. Thanks for the memory!

By Phil Beard (10/01/2003)

I have a photograph of a policeman standing guard over the wreck. And yet they managed to steal the compass! Memories have recently been revived for me. I live in New South Wales and, in a replay of the Athina B, a coal freighter has recently been washed onto a beach in Newcastle by a storm.

By Robert Klein (22/06/2007)