Fire at sea in Coastal Trader

Press, 27 April 1983, Page 1

Fire at sea in Coastal Trader

A fire broke out in the Coastal Trader late last evening, injuring one crewman and leaving the vessel drifting about 30 miles south-east of Timaru. A Timaru Harbour Board launch left Timaru at 11.20 p.m. to take medical assistance to the injured man.' During the launch’s twohour trip, the man received medical aid on board the Coastal Trader, said a Harbour Board spokesman early this morning; The seaman was in a serious condition. Crew were administering mouth-to-mouth resncitation and heart massage. The fire broke out at 10.25 p.m. It was extinguished with carbon dioxide. Damage was thought to be confined to the engineroom, where the fire had started.

Attempts to obtain a helicopter to take medical assignee were unsuccessful as no South Canterbury machines available are equipped for night rescue work. ■. The Coastal Trader had been sailing from Dunedin to Lyttelton, where she was due about 7 a.m. The Coastal Trader has been in the news constantly since returning from Singapore in February after having been lengthened by 10.6 metres. She had to abandon her first southern run and be towed back to Auckland when a heating hose burst. Since then, she has had three mechanical failures at Lyttelton, including one in which she smashed into the roll-on wharf, causing damage estimated at $50,000.