GRAVE DISPUTE

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 112, 4 February 1933, Page 11

GRAVE DISPUTE

Repair of Damaged French Liner

LLOYD’S AND OWNERS

(Received Feb. 3, 7.30 p.m.)

London, Feb. 3.

A grave dispute has arisen between the London underwriters and the owners of the damaged liner I’Atlantique, says the “Daily Express.” The owners are demanding the whole of the £1,500,000, though the ship is not a total loss. The French Government shared the insurance risk with Lloyd’s, otherwise the owners would have simply abandoned the vessel, as they had a clear claim to the insurance.

Lloyds contends that the ship can be repaired in England for half the sum it would cost in French yards, “but,” the “Express” adds, “the French Government wants all the money for repairs kept in France.”

While proceeding to Havre for overhaul, without passengers, on June 5, the French luxury liner, L’Atlantique, 42,512 tons, caught fire and was' abandoned off the Casquets, a group of rocks to the west of the island of Alderney in the Channel Islands. The smouldering hulk of the L’Atlantique was subsequently towed to Cherbourg.

L’Atlantique, by far the largest and fastest liner on the South American run, was launched in 1930 by the Chartier et Ateliers de Saint Nazaire-Penhoet, and completed in 1931 for the Campagnie de Navigation Sud-Atlantique. With a gross tonnage of 42,512 tons, she is 744 feet in length overall, with a breadth of 92 feet. She is a quadruple screw vessel, and has a service speed at 21 knots. The L’Atlantique was engaged in the service between France and South America, and made her maiden trip in September, 1931. She cost £3,200,000. She carries 500 first-class, 90 secondclass, and 660 third-class passengers.