Tass has praise for liner’s crew

Press, 19 February 1986, Page 28

Tass has praise for liner’s crew

NZPA-Reuter Moscow The Soviet news agency Tass reported the sinking of the liner Mikhail Lermontov, praising her crew for skill in saving passengers and pointing out that a New Zealand pilot was on board. The State agency’s report was the first mention in the Soviet news media of the shipwreck. One crewman was believed lost but all 738 others on board were saved. Tass said the Mikhail Lermontov struck a reef “in the conditions of a difficult passage through the fjords of New Zealand.” ‘‘At the moment of the accident a pilot from New Zealand was on board,” it said. “After five hours uphill struggle to save the ship,

the liner sank at a depth of 33 metres.. Attempts to ground the vessel failed. Rapidly rising water flooded the engine room,” Tass said. “The faultless training and sang-froid of the crew allowed the evacuation of the passengers in the shortest time on to New Zealand ships which had sped to the place of the shipwreck,” it said. Tass said unconfirmed reports indicated that one of the crewmen had been killed because he had been in the hold at the time of the accident and had been unable to reach the deck. The rescue had been made difficult by the onset of dusk, low clouds and high winds, Tass said. “The passengers, a majority of whom were

elderly, were literally carried by hand to the rescue services.”

The agency, said New Zealand fishing vessels had played a big role in the rescue. “The New Zealand authorities together with representatives of the U.S.S.R. in Wellington have begun an investigation into the incident,” it added. Soviet morning newspapers and television news broadcasts did not mention the sinking of the 20,352-ton liner. The Soviet news media give rapid coverage of accidents and disasters involving non-Communist States but rarely make more than a brief mention of those affecting the Soviet Union and its allies.