COLLISION IN PANAMA CANAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17696, 3 February 1921, Page 5

COLLISION IN PANAMA CANAL

STEAMER ATHENIC DAMAGED.

I The steamer Athenic sustained consid--1 erable damage by a collision in the •. I Panama Canal while on her last voyage I from New Zealand to England. The ' ; accident occurred in the middle of Novem- • ber, but for some reason it has so far 1 gone unreported. The following descrip- ! tion of the incident is from a letter ' I written by a passenger on board the j Athenic:—The Athenic was about haltway through the canal when a large ! steamer was observed coining up behind. • j This steamer proved to be an American . ! boat named the Victoria, and as she was ] a much faster boat than the Athenic, she ' : very soon overhauled her. When th<» ' | vessels were close together another • i steamer, aa oil boat, was noticed also at j very close quarters, and was apparently , ! not observed by those in charge of the i; Victoria until too late to avoid a collii i sion, either with the Athenic or with the oil boat. Had the collision occurred with i } the latter probably an explosion would i have occurred and a terrible disaster • I might have been the result. The lesser of two evils was, therefore, apparently ■ chosen, with the result that the Victoria ! crashed into the Athenic. There was • great excitement among the passengers. • j The damage to the Athenic was esti- , | mated at about £10,000. The IHei | boat, side of the vessel, and port j holes were all badly damaged, the cabins ' being flooded and the passengers having i to be temporarily shifted to other quarters. The ship was detained at ChnsI tobel (Colon), where she was thoroughly I examined, and after temporary repairs j had been effected sho resumed her voyi age, reaching Southampton on December il. The full extent of the damage to the I Victoria was not known when the Athenic j left Colon, but that it was very considsrI able will be inferred from the fact that all the cargo had to be taken out of the ship. An uiquiry was held into the matter at Colon, and it is understood that Captain Grassland, of the Athenic. was entirely exonerated from all blame in the matter. Subsequently a leter of sympathy was handed to him by the passengers of the Athenic.