Cape Otway (constructed 1848) was usually the first landfall on the Australian coast for overseas ships sailing to Melbourne. To reach Melbourne safely, however, it was necessary to negotiate a 50 mile wide western passage into Bass Strait between Cape Otway and King Island from some 3000 miles out. Many ships failed to "thread the eye of the needle" and were wrecked on the coast to the west of Cape Otway and the dangerous outer-lying reefs of King Island. Eighteen sailing ship - both cargo and passenger - were wrecked in this Bass Strait entrance when nearing the end of long sea voyages. As many as 300 ships have been wrecked along this entire coastline. The wreck of the convict ship, Neva, in 1853 saw only 22 survivors from 241 passengers and crew. In 1845 the emigrant ship, Cataraqui, struck a reef in stormy seas off the south west end of King Island in what remains as Australia's worst ever civil maritime disaster with only 9 out of 408 aboard reaching the shore alive.
