Wahine ‘Cracked Open’

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31986, 13 May 1969, Page 32

Wahine ‘Cracked Open’

(N.Z. Press Association)

WELLINGTON, May 12.

The Wahine cracked open just above the waterline from the stern to amidships in last Thursday’s storm, and then broke her back between the forward and after boiler rooms, just below the forward end of the vehicle ramps, the salvage chief, Captain J. Anderson, said on board the Holmpark this morning. Workers in the Holmpark

during the storm saw the wreck split into three sections, two of which disappeared below the surface. “It was all over in a couple of hours,” he said. Captain Anderson said that last Thursday morning a tear was seen in plates just above D-deck—the vehicle deck—and this gradually became larger and started running from the stern horizontally along the side towards the centre of the ship. As the break increased in width and length, workers could see the floor of the vehicle deck exposed. The split continued horizontally to just abaft,, where the funnel was positioned, and then the hull broke vertically. “We then saw the after section'divide itself in two,” he said.

“D deck and everything below rolled over, coming to rest upright, leaving the top part suspended, for a few seconds through trapped air. “This then collapsed dot ■- wards into the other section, but slid along several feet, like two sides of a sandwich becoming unstuck.” Captain Anderson said the forward end, previously unsupported along the bow, had dropped on to the seabed. Asked how many sections ■the hull lay in, he said this was “problematical.” “If you count the many bits and pieces lying around there would be several dozen, but as far as we are concerned it is in two pieces,” he said. Although the ship had broken into three sections, these had not actually been severed from one another. They were connected by a tangled mass of metal.

Captain Anderson said l.e

was optimistic about recovering much of the salvage equipment lost in the storm. Divers had seen several items on the seabed. He and other principals in the salvage were now working out a new approach. . “We are not abandoning the idea of using foam,” he said. The forward section and the after section from D deck downwards could be foamed, but the after section which had become disconnected would probably have to be cut up and removed piece by piece.