In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal to revisit the sinking of the Soviet cruise liner Mikhail Lermontov in the Marlborough Sounds in 1986. What begins as a scenic cruise through New Zealand waters becomes a story of misplaced confidence, maritime judgment, and unanswered questions, as an experienced local pilot guides a luxury liner dangerously close to shore. Hill and McCrystal unpack the decisions that led to the ship striking rocks near Cape Jackson, the difficult rescue that followed, the loss of a life, and the lingering mystery around why such a catastrophic choice was made.