The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior has sailed into Auckland to mark the 40th anniversary of the bombing of the original Rainbow Warrior in 1985.

Greenpeace’s vessel, which had been protesting nuclear testing in the Pacific, sank after French government agents planted explosives on its hull, killing Portuguese-Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira.

Today, 40 years on from the events on July 10 1985, a dawn ceremony was held in Auckland.

• READ MORE: Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior is a timely reminder
• Other Rainbow Warrior reports

Author Margaret Mills was a cook on board the ship at the time, and has written about her experience in a book entitled Anecdotage.

The 95-year-old told TVNZ Breakfast the experience on board “changed her life”.

“I was sound asleep, and I heard this sort of bang and turned the light on, but it wouldn’t go on.

She said when she left her cabin, a crew member told her “we’ve been bombed”.

‘I laughed at him’
“I laughed at him, I said ‘we don’t get bombs in New Zealand, that’s ridiculous’.”

She said they were taken to the police station after a “big boom when the second bomb came through”.

“I realised immediately, I was part of a historical event,” she said.

Journalist David Robie. who travelled on the Rainbow Warrior and wrote the book Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior published today, told Breakfast it was a “really shocking, shocking night”.

“We were so overwhelmed by the grief and absolute shock of what had happened. But for me, there was no doubt it was France behind this.”

“But we were absolutely flabbergasted that a country could do this.”

He said it was a “very emotional moment” and was hard to believe it had been 40 years since that time.

‘Momentous occasion’
“It stands out in my life as being the most momentous occasion as a journalist covering that whole event.”

Executive director of Greenpeace Aotearoa Russel Norman said the legacy of the ship was about “people who really stood up for something important”.

“I mean, ending nuclear testing in the Pacific, imagine if they were still exploding bombs in the Pacific. We would have to live with that.

“And those people back then they stood up and beat the French government to end nuclear testing.

“It’s pretty inspirational.”

He said the group were still campaigning on some key environmental issues today.

Television New Zealand has filed an opposition claim against Vodafone’s attempt to trademark the name “One NZ”.

In September last year, the telecommunications company revealed it wanted to change its name to One New Zealand to better reflect its legacy in Aotearoa, having separated from the global Vodafone group three years ago.

But a TVNZ spokesperson said its own TVNZ 1 and One News were reputable and valuable brands, and it was keen to protect them.

“Given these discussions are ongoing, we are simply exercising our rights until the parties reach a position they are comfortable with,” they said in a statement.

“We continue to partner with Vodafone commercially and on a range of projects.”

An initial three-month extension to the opposition period was filed in October but could not be renewed, and discussions had paused for the holiday break.

In a statement, Vodafone NZ corporate affairs head Conor Roberts said they expected TVNZ’s objection given the extension period could not be renewed.

They were “constructively working” with TVNZ on the matter, Roberts said.

“The remaining issues are minor and procedural and relate to various uses of the brand — rather than whether it can be used at all — and as such we believe they can be resolved,” he said.

Vodafone has up to two months to file a counterclaim or withdraw the application.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

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