DESTRUCTIVE FIRE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 102, 3 May 1939, Page 11

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE

LINER ZEALANDIC

HARD FIGHT FOR CONTROL

FIERCE HEAT

(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.)

MELBOURNE, May 2.

A fire occurred in the Shaw Savill and Albion Company's liner Zealandic at Victoria Dock today. The crew and several fire brigades had a hard fight of 80 minutes before they got the fire under control, fierce heat and suffocating smoke hampering the task.

The fire appeared to start near the boilers by the ignition of waste crude oil. Considerable damage was done to the engine-room and to an adjoining hatch. The Zealandic arrived from London yesterday.

So extensive was the damage that it is uncertain when the ship will sail.

Till a more thorough inspection is made tomorrow it will not be known whether the vessel will have to enter dry dock for repairs. If this is necessary, temporary repairs will be made here and the ship will be taken to the Sydney dry dock. Arrangements will then have to be made for the transhipment of cargo.

Surveyors, marine engineers, and representatives of the owners' agents spent most of today inspecting the damage.

The Zealandic Is one of the bestknown of the Shaw Savill and Albion Company's cargo liners. Built in 1928, she was the first of the quartet of motor-ships built for the company. The Zealandic is a twin-screw motorship of 8443 tons gross register, the sister-ships being the Coptic, the Taranaki, and the Karamea. Commanded by Captain M. Andrews, the Zealandic left London on March 22 and Cape Town on April 8 for Australian ports.