THROUGH A CYCLONE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20307, 15 July 1929, Page 11

THROUGH A CYCLONE.

A STEAMER IN PERIL.

EXPERIENCES OF THE ROXEN

Captain G. Drelick, master of the Swedish steamer Itoxen, used great quantities of oil to calm the seas when his ship was in danger in a cyclone off the coast of New South Wales and Queensland recently. On arrival in Sydney, after a passage of more than four days from Brisbane, he said that the oil undoubtedly saved his deck cargo from going overboard, and possibly saved the steamer from foundering. Forward on the P.oxcn is a towering mass of timber. For more than 12 hours tremendous seas beat up gainst its sides and swept down on top. If the lashings had given away, the timber, which consisted largely of square would have gone overboard in a few seconds, carrying away the hatches and laying the vessel bare to lli3 great combers that were continually tumbling over the sides. With so much timber in the sea it would have been necessary to stop the engines for fear of the propeller being fouled, and in such a contingency the safety of the. ship is a matter for conjecture.

Fortunately (he stevedores bad done their work well. The lashings held fast, although lengths of rail carried away under the pressure of the timber as it sagged to one side for several feet. A good deal of timber was swept away and many barrels of oil, carried as deck cargo aft, met a similar fate. The position forward was so dangerous that Captain Brelick called his crew aft of the bridge, and they were accommodated amidships until the danger had passed. The Boxen left Brisbane on Friday, June 23, and next day, at 10.30 a.m., when Cape Bryon lighthouse had been sighted, the barometer fell rapidly, and shortly afterwards the first cyclonic squall came, with a tremendous sea. So great was the force of the wind against the high cargo on the foredeck that the Roxen would not steer, so Captain Drelick decided to turn round and run before the wind.

"It was very hard to get about," Caplain Drelick said. " Tho engines had to be forced to move her round. Although it was in the middle of the day, visibility was restricted. We did not, know how far we were off the coast, so the wind was kept on the steamer's side, and she was driven along at top speed to get away from the coast. By this time, mountainous seas were sweeping ail over the steamer."

]t was llicn, Captain Drelick added, that lie decided to use oil to keep the seas down. The Roxen being an oilburner, the fuel from her tanks was used. It was pumped into the scuppers on the weather side, whence it found its way into the sea at points where it could do the greatest amount of good. The experiences 011 Saturday night, when the worst of the gale was encountered, would never be forgotten. There were not only wind and rain, the like of which he iiad seldom seen before, but the most terrifying thunder and lightning also. Certainly there were unusual intervals between each flash and the thunder-clap, but the prospect of a ship carrying a big cargo of benzine being struck by lightning was not alluring.

On Sunday morning the weather began to improve and at eight o'clock the Roxen was again put about when abreast, of Brisbane. The voyage to Sydney was accomplished safely, although rough seas persisted practically all the way.