DISASTER AT SEA

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31143, 20 August 1966, Page 4

DISASTER AT SEA

Lakonia. By Geoffrey Bond. Oldbourne, London. 198 The Greek cruise liner Lakonia, known to many New Zealanders who had travelled in her as the Johan Van Oldenbarneveldt, caught fire near Madeira on December 22, 1963. She was abandoned, and 98 of her 646 passengers and 30 of her crew of 376 were either drowned or burned to death. A few days later she sank while under tow. Two questions at once arise: why did the fire, which apparently started in a hairdressing saloon, spread until it engulfed the whole ship; and why, in comparatively calm weather, were so many lives lost. This book, unfortunately, does not supply a satisfactory answer to either question. Mr Bond has interviewed many of the survivors, and the records of the Greek owners, General Steam Navigation, Ltd., were available to him. Thus we are given plenty of personal experiences, and fragments of family history and affairs, which are not entirely relevant but nevertheless go to make up a dramatic account of this great; maritime disaster. From all this no clear over-all picture) emerges of what went wrong) with the fire-fighting and the) transfer of the passengers to) the boats and life-rafts. It is) apparent that there was no) panic at any stage, but a lot of confusion. Orders were given and countermanded, warnings ignored, lifebelts mislaid, and passengers, illprepared for an emergency by one rather perfunctory lifeboat drill, wandered rather aimlessly about the ship. There is mention of fire hoses either flat or merely trickling,) inviting the supposition that' the whole fire-fighting system was faulty, or not properly used, but this point is not pursued and no conclusion can be reached. Mr Bond tells, too, of former fires and electrical . faults, and suggests that these were cured by the use I of over-strength fuses, but i again leaves it at a suggesItion. T-he records of the

Greek Line do not seem to have yielded any information on what orders were given, and when, by the master and his • officers. However, as the Greek Government commission which inquired into the disaster must have been in session while this book was being written, Mr Bond may well have decided to avoid any charge of appearing to anticipate its findings. This decision would also account for the silence (in the book) of the officers and crew. In spite of these deficiencies this is still a first-rate book. With the passenger interviews and his own sharp prose, Mr Bond presents an appalling scene. There were acts of heroism, and cowardice, by both passengers and crew. Some lifeboats got away safely: some were ill-equipped; some had no plugs so that they filled as soon as they were launched; some spilled their passengers into the sea because the falls at one end jammed or were clumsily handled: and some had no crew member in charge of them. All this was taking place against the background of the encroaching | fire, and as most of the passengers were British the : shouting in Greek and Ger- ) man must have added to their ! fear and confusion.

Woven through this account of disaster is the story of the approach of the rescuing merchant vessels, the United States Air Force (from the Azores), the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, and of the organisation behind them. Mr Bond’s account of the working of the A.M.V.E.R. (Atlantic Merchant Vessel Emergency Report) is particularly interesting.

Readers -will not be surprised to learn that the Greek Government commission, which delivered its findings early last month, found the captain and six of his officers guilty of gross negligence, and the purser guilty of minor negligence. A book based on the transactions of this commission would make interesting reading indeed.