LOST ITALIAN VESSELS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19781, 31 October 1927, Page 9

LOST ITALIAN VESSELS.

SCILLY ISLANDS WRECK, CREW'S TRYING EXPERIENCE. DIFFICULTIES OF LIFEBOATS. TWO MEN STILL MISSING. By Telegraph—Press Association-—Copyright. A. and N.Z.-Sun. LONDON. Oct. 29. The Italian steamer Isabo, bo»nd from Montreal to Hamburg, went -ashore on the rocks at the Scilly "Islands. Fishermen rescued 27 members of the crew. Four more survivors landed at Penzance. Two men are still missing. Heavy seas drove back life-boats which were attempting to reach the Isabo and she broke in halves at dawn. One member of the crew swam ashore in spite of the tremendous waves. Three others, spurred on by his success, plunged into the sea and a lifeboat crew rescued them exhausted. One lifeboat eventually reached the Isabo. A man was found in the crow's nest dead from exposure. The missing men are believed to have clung to wreckage and drifted , out to sea. The Isabo was formerly the Iris. She was a vessel of 6827 tons and was built in 1914 at Trieste. She W3S nwned by the Marco Martinolich Company and. registered at Lussin-Piccolo, Adriatic Sea. PRINCIPESSA MAFALDA. BOATS RUSHED BY CREW. SURVIVORS* SERIOUS CHARGES. A. and N.Z. RIO DE JANEIRO. Oct. 28. The French steamer Formosa arrived in dock at Rio de Janeiro to-day with a number of survivors from the lost Italian liner Principessa Mafalda. In statements to interviewers the survivors said the machinery of the .wrecked vessel was in a bad condition and her life-saving* equipment inefficient. They alleged that the crew stormed tha lifeboats and deserted the passengers. Some of the third-class passengers ran amok and sacked the bar and the cabins. One of the survivors said he and his wife swam for half an hour amid Hr.lfeaten bodies and wreckage. They asserted that there were no instructions in the cabins how to use the life-belts. No boats were assigned to the passengers, said these survivors. There had only been one boat drill and one fire drill and both were complete fiascos. The passengers were not assembled and no I oats were swung out. They also declared that after the disaster boats which were successfully launched never returned to the ship, but were abandoned when their occupants were rescued.