Pilot’s flag still flying, say clivers

Press, 20 February 1986, Page 3

Pilot’s flag still flying, say clivers

PA Wellington Flag H indicating “I have a pilot on board,” was still attached to the top of the sunken Mikhail Lermontov’s mast, divers said yesterday. A group from the National Film Unit, supported by local divers, had permission to dive on the wreck where it rests in Port Gore, Marlborough Sounds. They said the flag was still up. The liner was lying port side up and appeared in good condition except for a big hole in her keel. A hole about 10m long by 4m wide under the ship’s bow thrusters could be seen, the divers said after their second dive. Initially they thought the hole was much bigger. Mr John Gander, of Picton, said the keel looked as if it had been pulled back by a giant hand. A piece of metal about 2m long was hanging back at the stern end of the hole.

The divers said the ship was lying almost completely on her side, with the deck vertical to the surface.

The Navy patrol vessel Taupo which had been on the scene since Sunday night left the area late on Tuesday for Auckland and was replaced by the Wellington vessel Enterprise with a Ministry of Transport official aboard. The Ministry has ordered an investigation into the condition of lifesaving equipment in the Mikhail Lermontov. The Ministry’s Chief Surveyor of Ships, Mr Jack Critchley, said persons had been asked to look at the liferafts which were now now in Picton and under the control of the Receiver of Wrecks. Cape Jackson residents who helped rescue the 750 people from the Mikhail Lermontov say reports that the crew were unhelpful during the evacuation are wrong. Two farmers, Tony and David Baker, and a fisherman, Dave Fishburn, said the Russians did “everything humanly possible” to assist. “The Russians did a

magnificent job. No passenger was left unattended and the Russians also assisted local boaties in handling, loading and unloading their vessels,” they said. The residents were upset by news media reports which said the Russian crew collected their own gear and looked after themselves before the passengers. The Auckland manager of the Charter Tour Company, Mr Les Goss, said the passengers of the Mikhail Lermontov would have their full fares refunded. Mr Goss, whose Lon-don-based company chartered the vessel from Baltic Shipping for the ship’s summer cruises, said the company was doing everying it could to help passengers. Seventeen Australian passengers were still in Wellington yesterday. Six were still in hospital, nine were still in city hotels, and there were possibly two others still in the city. Three were expected to fly out last evening. At least four salvage companies have shown an interest in salvaging the Mikhail Lermontov but a shipping expert says it is still too early to say whether the ship can be refloated or whether she will have to be cut up.

A nautical adviser in the Ministry of Transport, Captain David Boyes, said some of the urgency had now gone from salvage work now that it seemed the estimated 2000 tonnes of fuel oil in the wreck was still held in tanks.