RESCUE AT SEA

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 220, 13 June 1936, Page 13

RESCUE AT SEA

Passengers From Burning Ship i GOOD WORK OF OIL TANKER An interesting account of the rescue of passengers from a ship on fire at sea is given in a letter to a friend in Wellington by Captain 11. MacKinnon, master of the Vacuum Oil Company’s tanker Yarravilie,. and formerly chief officer of Hie tanker W. B. M alker, now in port at Wellington. "On April 5, when in mid-Pacific, the SOS was sent out by the Norwegian motor-ship Tricolor,” wrote Captain MacKinnon. "She was on fire deep down in the cargo bolds, and required assistance. At this time the Yarravilie was 150 miles distant, and the nearest vessel to the Tricolor, so in response to their urgent call we proceeded to their assistance.

"The weather was bad then —a big sea and swell with plenty of rain. Hence our progress was slow, as the conditions were against us. At midnight the rain made visibility poor, and I don’t suppose we could see more than a few hundred yards. However, by the aid of a fog whistle, rockets and radio compass bearings, we sighted the Tricolor at a few minutes before midnight. The captain of the Tricolor desired to transfer bis sixteen passengers over to this ship, but the weather was so bad that we decided to wait until daylight in the hope that conditions would improve. I’m afraid if we had transferred in the dark something would have happened.

“We stayed close to the Tricolor all that night. We were both stopped and just rolled about waiting for dawn. After a long night daybreak came and with it a decrease in the wind, also the sea. There was still a big swell running and then, with the wind going down, dense fog shut in. ‘At 11 a.m. it was still foggy, and by this time the Yarravilie and Tricolor were invisible to each other. However, it was decided to transfer the passengers before the wind and sea started up again. By means of signals on the whistle both ships came as near as was safe and the transfer commenced. We couldn’t see each other, and the lifeboats were only 100 yards away when we saw them. Three lifeboats came over, and only when the passengers were all on board did the fog lift a little, and there only 200 yards away was the Tricolor, so you can imagine how thick it was. “After the captain had seen his passengers safely off the ship, he opened the hatches where the fire was, and after two days defeated it, much to everyone’s delight We carried on to San Pedro with our load of women and children, and had twelve days of it before seeing California. “I gave up my quarters to a family of seven, and one old lady in delicate health occupied my very comfortable bed. I was sleeping sometimes in the bridge chartroom and sometimes on Mr. Gibson’s conch. I was very tired when we arrived at San Pedro, having for 24 hours before arriving encountered more fog. However, all’s well that ends well, and, believe me, a sigh of relief went up when we arrived. “The food supply was also running low, but we managed. I thought when we docked that everything was over, but no, the worst was yet to come. The ship was besieged with Press reporters and movie camera men. Pictures were taken, and they even wanted mo to speak Into the microphone.”