COASTAL VESSEL'S FATE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 21067, 29 December 1931, Page 8

COASTAL VESSEL'S FATE.

THE LAST OF THE BREEZE.

ABANDONED BY OWNERS. UNDERWRITERS TO SINK HULL. [nV TELEGRAPH- —TRESS ASSOCIATION.] CIIRISTCIIURCII, Monday. The steamer Breeze, which was damaged extensively when she went ashore at l'ort. Robinson on December 18, has been abandoned to (he underwriter's, who intend to dismantle the ship and sink the hull. The damage to (he hull and keel is more extensive than was at first supposed and tlio cost of repairs would bo more than the value of the vessel. The company will carry on with the Calm, the Gale and the Storm and replace the Breeze with a new ship later.

Built in Holland in 1909. the Breeze, is a steel steamer of 553 tons. Tier principal dimensions are : —Length, 16511.; breadth, 28ft.; depth, lift. She has been engaged in the Lyttelton-Wellington-Wanganui service ami is well known on the New Zealand coast. Encountering a dense fog on a voyage from Wellington to Lyttellon the Breeze grounded at, Port Robinson, near Cheviot, about 80 miles north of Lvttelton, shortly after seven o'clock on the morning of December 18. Members of the crew standing on the deck were thrown from their feet when the vessel struck. She had turned at right-angles from her original course. The steamer floated off the beach on the rising tide, about an hour later, and, although holed in one bilge, was'able to proceed to Lyttellon with pumps working at full pressure.