On July 10, 1985, agents of the French government planted mines and blew up Greenpeace‘s Rainbow Warrior  in the port of Auckland, New Zealand to prevent the ship to be used to protest a planned French nuclear test in Moruroa. Fernando Pereira, a photographer, drowned on the sinking ship.  Now, 30 years later, Jean-Luc Kister, the French commando who set the two limpet mines which sank the ship and killed Pereira, appeared on New Zealand TVNZ and apologized for his actions.

France sent at least 13 agents to the Pacific to carry out the sinking. Two of them, Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart, were arrested and imprisoned. Jean-Luc Kister was never charged.

Two mines were planted on the hull of the Greenpeace ship, timed to detonate just before midnight, 10 minutes apart. The first mine was intended to cripple the ship so that it could be evacuated before the second mine detonated.  The plan didn’t work, as some of the crew returned to the ship to investigate and film the damage. A Portuguese-Dutch photographer, Fernando Pereira, returned below decks to fetch his camera equipment. When the second mine went off, Pereira was killed.

As reported by the BBC: Mr Kister told TVNZ’s Sunday programme that it was not the aim of his team to kill anybody and that he wanted to say sorry to the family of Pereira, to Greenpeace members on board the vessel and to the people of New Zealand. He told TVNZ his part in the operation was “a big, big failure”

He said the destruction of the vessel was “disproportionate” and “an unfair, clandestine operation conducted in an allied, friendly and peaceful country”.

Thanks to Alaric Bond for contributing to this post.