ADRIFT AT SEA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 14 December 1932, Page 6

ADRIFT AT SEA

RESCUE BY THE WAIHEMO

AUCKLAND, 12th December

Drilling helplessly with her engine useless, a Canadian fishing launch was picked up and towed to safety by the Union Company’s freighter Waihemo, which arrived at Auckland from Los Angeles this morning. The incident occurred early in the evening of 3rd November, when the Waihemo was bound from Union Bay to Ocean Falls to continue loading for New Zealand and Australia.

The chief officer, Mr J. Ritchie, noticed a small light flashing in' the darkness on the port how. It appeared to be about four miles away. The ship’s course was altered toward the flickering light. A fairly heavy sea was running, and it was pitch dark when the steamer manoeuvred to within a short distance of the small craft. The sea was too rough to allow a boat to be launched and the Waihemo had to be manoeuvred until a line could he thrown from the steamer. A little more than an hour from the time when the distress signals had been sighted, the crippled Jaunci was taken in tow. She was the Canadian fishing launch Golden West, homeward bound to New Westminster from Prince Rupert with the summer’s' catch of halibut and salmon. . The crew of two said that their engine had broken down six hours before. Their distress signals had been ignored by two other vessels, and they were in urgent need of assistance. The fishermen said that there was no chance of getting the engine going again.