LOSS OF GREEK SHIP

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25089, 22 January 1947, Page 7

LOSS OF GREEK SHIP

CAUSE OF SINKING NOT DETERMINED OFFICERS AND CREW DETAINED (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 20. It is reported that some of the survivors of the Greek ship Heimera. which was sunk in Greek coastal waters yesterday, allege sabotage aimed at Prince Paul’s entourage. The captain is quoted as saying that the explosion came from within the ship. The Prime Minister of Greece, Mr Tsaldaris, said rumours about a disaster to the Heimera were circulating on the night of January 18, 12 hours before the ship went down. The Greek Minister of the Navy (Mr Demetrios Londos) said it Was unlikely that a loose mine caused the disaster because minesweepers had long ago completed their task of clearing Greek waters. Other officials said that it had not yet been determined whether the sinking was due to a mine or an interior explosion. Divers would examine the wreck.

The crew has criticised the Admiralty for allowing the Heimera to sail at night through a swept minefield channel only a mile wide. The Ministry of Public Order said that 45 political prisoners who were being exiled were aboard, under escort, but none was in chains. Survivors had said that among those aboard when the ship went down were 40 captured guerrillas, who were in chains in the ship’s hold.

More survivors have been found at scattered points along the coast of Greece and the missing now total 201, say reports from Athens. The Athens correspondent of the British United Press says that the Greek Admiralty has ordered an investigation into the conduct of the officers and crew of the Heimera as a result of survivors’ charges that officers boarded the lifeboats after preventing passengers from doing so. The Greek News Agency reports that the chief officer of the port of Chaicis, near which the Heimera sank, has opened an inquiry. He has ordered the detention and isolation of the surviving officers and men.