Port Gore (officially Te Anamāhanga / Port Gore) is a bay and natural harbour at the northern end of the Marlborough Sounds in New Zealand. It is close to the northern tip of the South Island, at the western end of Cook Strait. It is directly west of the entrance to Queen Charlotte Sound.

Port Gore is the resting place of the 170-metre (560 ft) Soviet luxury cruise liner, the Mikhail Lermontov, which sank on 16 February 1986 as a result of attempting to navigate the narrow passage between Cape Jackson and the Lighthouse Rock.[1] As a consequence of the disaster, Russian President Boris Yeltsin joked that New Zealand was the only country to get away with sinking a Russian ship.[2] It is now a popular attraction as the largest fully intact wreck dive in the world and easily accessible at a depth of only 37 metres (121 ft).[3]

In August 2014, the name of the bay was officially altered to Te Anamāhanga / Port Gore.[4]

41°00′S 174°15′E / 41.000°S 174.250°E / -41.000; 174.250

References

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  1. ^ "MIKHAIL LERMONTOV - The New Zealand Maritime Record - NZNMM". www.nzmaritime.co.nz. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  2. ^ "Mikhail Lermontov sinking retains sense of bizarre 34 years on". Stuff. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  3. ^ "New Zealand's Mikhail Lermontov: A Wreck to Die For | DIVER magazine". divermag.com. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  4. ^ "NZGB decisions". Land Information New Zealand. August 2014. Archived from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2015.