Terror at sea

How French intelligence agents bombed the Rainbow Warrior

-  IAN MACEWAN & HANNAH DAVIES

NEW FACTUAL
Murder in the Pacific
Thursday, 9 pm, BBC2 box set, BBC iPlayer)

The bombing of environmental campaign group Greenpeace’s flagship Rainbow Warrior by French secret service agents in New Zealand in 1985 resulted in the death of a crew member and a scandal that still rumbles today.

The ship had docked in Auckland as its 12-strong crew prepared to protest against French nuclear testing on South Pacific islands. But in the early hours of 10 July 1985, two explosions rocked the ship, sinking it in seconds.