A CLOSE CALL

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 13, 15 July 1936, Page 9

A CLOSE CALL

SAVING OP FREIGHTER

FINE SEAMANSHIP

NESTOR AND MUNGANA

(From "The Post's" Representative.) SYDNEY,'June 24.

Disabled oft the Margaret Brock Reef, about 200 miles fronr'Port Adelaide, the 3350-ton freighter "Mungana, ■■ with a valuable cargo, was in danger of being wrecked for 24 hours until, rescued in the nick of time by the oversea liner Nestor. The Mungana was so close to the rocks that rescue seemed impossible. The final rocket from her found its mark on the Nes- . tor after the latter had expended all her rocket line shots without making contact. It is one of the few cases on record where a disabled ship's rocket has provided her own salvation. The salvage assessments will be determined by the Admiralty Court in London, on the value of the Mungana and her cargo. It is estimated that the value of both would total about £100,000. • The Mungana's engine thrust carried away and her propeller shaft was bent. She was on the first stage of a voyage from Port Adelaide to Queensland, her 2000 tons of cargo jn-. eluding a large consignment of motor bodies. The Margaret Brock Reef is one of the worst menaces to navigation on the South Australian coast. The reef is not all connected, and there are channels through parts of it, and it extends for nearly three miles from the lighthouse at Cape Jaffra. Owing to the uneven nature of the bottom, the sea often breaks in bad weather for a distance of four or five miles ' outside the outer rocks of the reef with such violence as would jeopardise a small and deeply laden vessel. LAST SHOT SUCCEEDS. , The mishap to the Mungana occurred when a southerly gale was blowing, and her plight became perilous, as she was drifting towards the reef. The Nestor »was nearby and v quickly answered" distress signals. In the heavy seas that were running, difficulty was experienced in getting a rocket line aboard the Mungana. The Nestor's stock of rockets became exhausted, and then the Mungana began to. use her supply. Every minute found her drifting closer and closer to the reef. The Nestor herself came into the danger zone. . Only a few hundred yards separated the Mungana from the reef when her * last' rocket-line, fired with the accuracy of despair, and favoured by luck, fell aboard the Nestor. It was quickly seized, the attached tow rope,was hauled aboard, and the Mungana 'was' dragged clear of the jagged rocks. : Shipping men regard the rescue of the Mungana as a remarkable piece of seamanship. The Nestor, a Blue Funnel liner, was under the command of Captain Power; who was making his-first visit to Australia. ■ : ;•