CABLE STEAMER RECORDER

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 17 March 1937, Page 4

CABLE STEAMER RECORDER

OVERHAUL AT HONG KONG FATAL FIRE IN HOLD (United. Presß Association) AUCKLAND, 16th March. Looking trim and smart after her recent complete overhaul in Hong Kong, the cable steamer Recorder returned to Auckland after an absence of eight and a half months and anchored near the naval base. Apart from the three months she spent in dock, she has been engaged on her work of cable repair. After a week in Auckland she will leave to give needed attention to the cable between here and Sydney. The Recorder, which was for many years known as the Iris, left Auckland on 20th June of last year for Norfolk Island, near which she made several cable x’epairs. Having coaled at Sydney, she went on to Singapore, stopping to carry out repairs off Port Darwin on the way. With Singapore as a base, the Recorder was kept very busy on cable lines between Penang, Singapore and Batavia until, on 7th November, she went to the Taikoo dockyards at Hong Kong for an extensive overhaul and a special survey that occupied about three months. The Recorder was lying alongside the dock and work had only just started on her when a fire broke out in the forehold that occasioned loss of life and for a time threatened serious damage to the ship. The outbreak was first discovered about 6 p.m., and it was not until next morning that it was subdued. A fire brigade on the dock side poured in water, and the vessel’s pumps pumped through the ballast tanks until the hold was flooded. When the fire was out it was discovered that a Chinese of the ship’s company, about 17 years of age, had been overcome with fumes and lost his life. He had apparently been working in the hold when the outbreak occurred. The actual cause of the outbreak was never discovered, but fortunately the damage proved comparatively easy to repair. On returning to Singapore from Hong Kong the Recorder received orders to return to New Zealand. She has been steaming particularly well since her refitting, and averaged 11 knots on the way from Singapore to Sydney. When off Gladstone, on the Queensland coast, she struck - a severe storm, and, through a sea coming aboard, the crew suffered two casualties. They were Chinese stokers, one of whom had a broken thigh and the other a severe wound on the head. They were sent to hospital, and one of them will rejoin the Recorder here next week.