The 2013 discovery of the 1902 shipwreck SS Ventnor off the New Zealand North Island coast created major international media interest and controversy. The ship had been transporting the exhumed remains of 499 Chinese miners to China for reburial. In 2021 the bones of the lost miners were found entombed in the shipwreck. What is to become of these hungry ghosts of the deep is a question involving conflicting cultural beliefs and sensitivities. Artefacts recovered from the shipwreck created bureaucratic indecisions and are cause for unprecedented Government legislation of a vessel lost in New Zealand seas. "SS Ventnor - Ghost Ship of the Hokianga": is the full story of the author's personal involvement with the search, discovery and exploration of a shipwreck of New Zealand national importance. The history of the lost ship, her discovery together with the story of the early New Zealand Chinese gold miners, is a tale involving New Zealand cultural and maritime heritage, daring record breaking shipwreck exploration, and controversy involving Maori, Chinese and European cultures.