SHIP ABEL TASMAN IN STORM

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 227, 22 June 1936, Page 10

SHIP ABEL TASMAN IN STORM

Hove-to in Heavy Seas

EIGHT-DAY PASSAGE FROM SYDNEY

Stormy weather in the Tasman Sea delayed the freighter Abel Tasman by some 30 hours in her crossing from Sydney to Wellington. The passage took her eight days; she left Sydney on June 12, and arrived at Wellington on Saturday evening. Last Tuesday night she was hove-to, while the big waves swept the well-decks, and lifelines and nets were rigged to prevent any of- the hands from being swept overboard.

Captain Archibald said that the Abel Tasman had been moving practically in the track of a depression, which, like the ship, was crossing the Tasman in the direction of New Zealand. The voyage was rough throughout, but Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were particularly bad. Big seas washed on board; it was necessary to have handropes fixed fore and aft along the decks, and sturdy nets secured above the bulwarks to ensure the safety of the crew. These nets were still in place when the Abel Tasman reached Wellington. The southerly weather delayed the ship, and further time was lost when she was turned off her course, and hove-to.

The Abel Tasman carried, in addition to the cargo in her holds, a quantity of Australian hardwood stowed on her deck. .She is a comparatively small vessel, of 2000 tons, and her normal time for a Tasman transit is about six days and a half.