Jack M., a Wellingtonian who guides LOTR tours, writes on his blog that the ship used for King Kong is apparently soon to be disposed of. Rumor has it that the ship will be sunk in February, somewhere off the coast for the entertainment of divers.

For most people, that ship has nothing to do with the film trilogy. For me there are connections. On my first research visit to Wellington when I was preparing The Frodo Franchise, I arrived on Sunday, September 28, 2003, and on Tuesday, the 30th, took a taxi from downtown out to the Three Foot Six offices on the Miramar peninsula. There I had an appointment to do my very first interview. Cobham Drive, the road out to the peninsula, runs along the southern edge of Evans Bay, and across the water I could see a small green ship moored at the Miramar Wharf. (Cobham Drive and Evans Bay are on the map of the area that appears on p. 292 of the book; the wharf is there as well, north of the Three Foot Six building, though not named.) My driver informed me that it was a ship purchased for King Kong. I gather this was supposedly a secret, though obviously not a very well-kept one.

A few days later I was on top of the park that lies on a steep hill overlooking the Stone Street Studios. That’s the vantage from which I took the photos that appear as illustrations on pages 294 and 296 of The Frodo Franchise. I also took a couple of photos of the ship, the Manuia. (According to Jack’s entry, it was built in the Netherlands in 1965.) I didn’t have any use for a photo, but obviously I couldn’t be there and not take a picture or two.

At this point production on The Return of the King was winding down, so work hadn’t begun on Kong. For the film considerable modifications were made to the structures on the deck, and the hull was painted black. There’s a photo of the result in Jack’s entry.

I returned to Wellington twice for further research, in June/July and November/December of 2004. I can’t recall if the ship had been painted by June, but it definitely had by November. I didn’t photograph it again, for some reason.

On December 10, I got Peter Jackson’s permission to tour the miniatures facility, which I wanted to see despite the fact that all work on LOTR was obviously long since over. The place was full of Kong items, including a beautiful scale model of the ship. After the tour I interviewed Alex Funke, ASC, who was the Visual Effects Director of Photography for the miniatures unit on LOTR. (His two Oscars for the trilogy were in a case in the lobby, and I got to hold one. They really are heavy!) That wasn’t my very last interview in Wellington, since I finally managed after several tries to hook up with stunt performers Kirk Maxwell and Sharon James the next morning, shortly before I flew back to the States.

Still, the Manuia, large and small, sort of book-ended the Wellington portion of my research, and if I am lucky enough to return someday, I shall miss seeing it moored in its usual spot.

[Added February 10, 2010: Stuff.co, the New Zealand news site, has a brief story on the ship's sinking, complete with amateur video of its last minute. The accompanying story seems to imply that footage made using the ship never made it into the film. I was under the impression that some shooting was done on board while the ship was moored at the dock. Can anyone confirm that?]