I11-fated liner ‘so close to shore’

Press, 26 April 1989, Page 3

I11-fated liner ‘so close to shore’

NZPA Sydney Passengers on the ill-fated Soviet liner Mikhail Lermontov could have jumped ashore before the ship sank in the Marlborough Sounds in February 1986, the New South Wales Supreme Court heard on Monday.

After the 20,000 ton ship hit rocks and was holed at Cape Jackson on February 16, 1986, it turned into Port Gore and came so close to a sand bar near Cockle Bay that passengers and crew could have jumped to safety, a witness, Mr Geoffrey Merchant, said. He was one of two passengers rescued from the ship to give accounts of events surrounding the incident on the first day of a hearing to determine liability for the sinking. The three-week hearing, the first public hearing since the sinking, is to consider the claims of 151 Australian passengers that the ship’s owner, Baltic Shipping Company (8.5. C. and charterer, C.T.C. Cruises, were responsible for lost luggage, personal injuries and curtailed holidays when the ship sank. B.S.C. and C.T.C. are in turn seeking to pass on liability to the Marlborough Harbour Board and its former chief pilot, Captain Don Jamison. Mr Merchant, a retired Sydney tug pilot, had been resting in his cabin with his wife “about-5.30 p.m.” when the ship crashed into rocks while travelling at 15 knots. “There was a loud bang — a rumbling underneath. I realised straight away she’d hit something,” Mr Merchant said. “The bow went down and the stern went up and there was another loud bang before the ship settled. She didn’t stop — she had plenty of momentum.” Mr Merchant and his wife rushed on to the deck near their cabin and saw the Cape Jackson beacon less than 100 metres away and “a lot of foamy, white, shallow water between the ship and the beacon.” The ship then turned a full circle to starboard before heading into Port Gore. “Passengers could have jumped ashore, the ship was that close in,” he said. Mr Merchant could not remember any announcements in English over the ship’s public address system after the rocks were hit, though several were made in Russian. Counsel for the Marlborough Harbour Board, Mr Joe Campbell, Q.C., foreshadowed an appeal

to the Australian High Court in an attempt to overturn an amended cross-claim by Baltic and C.T.C. which could result in the board paying about $26.3 million for the ship if the board’s negligence is proved to be the cause of the accident. The harbour board unsuccessfully appealed last week in the N.S.W. Appeal Court against allowing the cost of the ship, repatriation of the Soviet crew from New Zealand and lost hire and freight to be included in the liability hearing. The board has argued that an Australian court should not rule on the loss of a Soviet ship in New Zealand waters. Counsel for the passengers, Mr Peter King, said that officers on the Mikhail Lermontov’s bridge twice expressed concern to the pilot, Captain Jamison, at how close inshore he was taking the ship as he navigated up the west side of Queen Charlotte Sound from Picton. Captain Jamison altered course three times as the ship approached Cook Strait — first at 5.21 p.m. ' at 5.31 p.m. and again at 5.36 p.m. — the last change taking the ship between Cape Jackson and Cape Jackson lighthouse. Two minutes after the last course change, and at her top speed of 15 knots, the ship hit rocks which tore holes in the bow, in two places on the port; side and possibly on the starboard side as well, Mr King said. The ship’s master, Captain Vladislav Vorobyev, ran 'back to the bridge from his cabin where he had been for more than an hour, assumed command and ordered “damage control measures.” By 6 p.m. it should have been obvious that the vessel was going to sink, but Captain Vorobyev withdrew an inadequate Mayday call put out by Captain Jamison and refused all assistance, Mr King said. The passengers were told the damage would be repaired and were led to believe that the only problem was that their evening meal would be late. "Cossack dancing and wine tasting continued as if nothing had happened,” Mr King said. The hearing continues today.