‘Little hope of salvage’

Press, 18 February 1986, Page 3

‘Little hope of salvage’

There is little hope of the Mikhail Lermontov being salvaged from her graveyard in the Marlborough Sounds, according to a retired master mariner living in Christchurch. Captain Bill Drake, who sailed the area for many years, said Port Gore was completely exposed to the north and subject to strong currents.

“You would need something as big as an oil rig to hold on to anything in there,” he said. “It would be a very costly exercise.” “We will have to wait to see what caused this accident, but it seems it must have been human error or mechanical malfunction.” Captain Drake, now aged 80, had a narrow escape himself at Cape

Jackson in the 19305. He still vividly recalls that particular voyage from Wellington to Nelson in the former Anchor Shipping and Foundry Company’s Cook Strait ferry Matangi. “The steering gear broke when we were off Cape Jackson. The stern was swept across the rocks and badly damaged, but we managed to

limp into Nelson the next day,” he said. “We had about 200 passengers on board and it gave us all a bit of a scare.” Not so lucky were 18 people who died on September 1, 1884, when the, 1217-ton Lastingham bound for Wellington was wrecked at Cape Jackson. “That’s still there just below the surface — I have seen it,” Captain Drake said.