Maori Returns CAPTAIN DESCRIBES 26-HOUR VOYAGE

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31983, 9 May 1969, Page 1

Maori Returns CAPTAIN DESCRIBES 26-HOUR VOYAGE

A violent roll as the wind caught the Maori abeam while she was turning to heave to 32 miles south of the Wellington Heads was the worst moment of the voyage, said the master (Captain R.E. Pugh-Williams) after the Union Steam Ship Company’s inter-island steamer berthed at Lyttelton at 11.5 p.m. yesterday.

The Maori had been at sea for 26 hours.

Only one of the 747 passengers and 43 crew was injured—he has a lacerated thumb. Two trailers on the vehicle deck moved during the storm, but ho vehicles or cargo were damaged. Most of the passengers were sick. Children from the Sumner School for the Deaf were perhaps the least affected. They wrestled and played even after some of them had been sick, a teacher said.

Captain Pugh-Williams said that the wind was between 90 and 100 knots and the seas were huge. It was the worst storm he had encountered on the run. “Never In Danger” “The ship was never in danger. She rode very nicely when we were hove to, bow into the wind and seas. “There was no sign of panic among the passengers" Cantain Pugh-Williams said. “They were apprehensive, of course. I was on the bridge all the time, but the mates and stewards moved among the passengers. , I

“A woman passenger suffering from diabetes was running short of insulin, and we were certainly concerned about her. I won't add to that—you can embroider it.” Captain Pugh-Williams had been on the bridge for 26 hours when the Maori berthed at 11.15 p.m. He saw shipping company officers in his day cabin. Then, looking very tired, gave an interview to press, radio and television reporters. He said he was in no shape to be photographed and too tired to give a story without questioning. The Maori left Lyttelton at 8.57 p.m. on Wednesday. She was off Cape Campbell, 32 miles south of the entrance to i Wellington Harbour, with the wind gusting to 60 tn 70 knots, when the Marine Department radioed that a deep trough of low pressure was coming from the south-east.

Seas Mount Captain Pugh-Williams said that the seas were and the weather was reported to be worsening off Wellington. “It was my decision to go about, not the company’s he said. “This was at 4.30 a.m. today. The ship gave a fairly good roll, a violent one, as the wind caught her on the beam. She rode very nicely hove-to.

“Winds of up to 100 knots were reported from Wellington. They were between 90 and 100 knots round the ship. We were progressing south at about four knots while hove-to and I sought shelter in the lee of Cape Campbell.” Captain Pugh-Williams said that the seas moderated and he remained hove-to with the intention of turning the ship and making Wellington, but then another deep trough of low pressure from Castlepoint to Banks Peninsula was reported.

Decision To Return “Soon afterwards we received a report of the Wahine breaking up in Wellington Harbour and this made me feel that I should then proceed to Lyttelton.” The Maori made about five knots after the decision to return was made about 12.30 p.m. yesterday. The seas moderated south of Kaikoura but the master kept the speed down for the convenience and safety of passengers. However, the Maori was able to increase speed to 15 knots before reaching Lyttelton. Crew Praised Passengers praised the seamanship of Captain PughWilliams and his crew and said the stewards had done a tremendous amount of work.

Sergeant P. J. Downes, transferring from the Christchurch police to Petone with his wife and four children,

said the crew worked like trojans looking after passengers and radiating reassurance.

“There were very few who wanted anything to eat—fewer than a quarter, and I was not one of them,” he said. “Most passengers stayed in their cabins, the majority lying on their beds.” Mrs M. J. Chalmers, who with her husband and two small children was going from Alexandra to Gisborne, said that the trip was terrible. “We were worried because all the time we thought we might end up like the Wahine. I'm too frightened to go back on board,” she said as she stood on the wharf while her husband was attempting to arrange to go to the North Island by air. Mr Chalmers said he had; crossed many times from Lyt-| telton to Wellington but he: had never seen anything like : the storm they had just been through. Mr Chalmers said that stewardesses on board the ship who had been on the Wahine on her last voyage said the storm the Maori had weathered was far worse than than in which the Wahine was wrecked. About 350 passengers stayed on board the ship last night. No Bookings A company official said in Wellington last evening that the Wahine tragedy had undoubtedly been in the minds of those responsible for the handling of the Maori, but no new safety procedures had been undertaken. The official said the company would do everything possible to get the Maori back into its normal LytteltonWellington service, but the time of the next sailing would depend on when Wellington Harbour was opened. “In the meantime, all passenger bookings will be cancelled,” he said.