LATE NEWS SHIPS IN DISTRESS

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 January 1947, Page 7

LATE NEWS SHIPS IN DISTRESS

HEAVY STORMS CONTINUE IN ATLANTIC RESCUE CRAFT SPEEDING OUT (Rec. 3 p.m.) NEW YORK, Jan. 15. Rescue craft, speeding through Atlantic storms to aid the crippled freighter Tecumseh Park, received a call for assistance from the British tanker Fossularca, which reported that her rudder was damaged and she was unable to steer in the heavy . seas. She gave her position as 290 miles east of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Later one of the rescue ships radioed that the British steamer Empire Macalum, 155 miles away and bound for Liverpool, was going to the aid of the Fossularca. The Tqcumseh Park’s latest radio message stated that she was struggling along at five knots in heavy seas. While the Swedish liner Gripsholm battled the storm for 11 days from «Goteborg to New York, 10,000 sea-sickness pills were handed out to distressed travellers. Five hundred of the 1243 passengers went to the. sick bay for pills in a single day.

The tug Bobolink, towing two oil barges from San Francisco to Honolulu, is four days overdue. All radio contact has been lost. Fifteen men are believed to be aboard the tug and barges.

GISBORNE SWEPT BY STORM (P.A.) GISBORNE, January 16. A southerly storm which swept Gisborne for 48 hours drenched the district with nearly two and a half inches of rain*, freshening up parched pastures. A number of trees- were blown over and orchards suffered severely. .The gale reached a peak of 53 miles an hour yesterday, dropping fo 15 miles this morning, when the storm centre moved to the north-east of East Cape. East coast areas suffered heavier damage, telephone poles being Tilown down in places. TAURANGA CLASS YACHTING CHAMPIONSHIP (P.A.) CHRISTCHURCH, Jan. 16. The third race for the Tanner Cup in the iriterprovincial Tauranga yachting championship this morning resulted in a win for the Nelson representative, sailed- by M. Amos, last year’s runner-up. The ■ Nelson yacht led from the start and won by 2 minutes 13 seconds. Canterbury was second and Auckland third.