ORDEAL IN GALE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22402, 24 April 1936, Page 14

ORDEAL IN GALE

SMALL MOTOE-YESSEL ONE ENGINE BREAKS DOWN HAUTURU'S ROUGH VOYAGE [by TELEGRAPH —OWN correspondent] NEW PLYMOUTH. Thursday Caught in the storm of last night, with one engine out of action, the Northern Steamship Company's 286-ton motor-vessel Hauturu had an adventurous passage from Onehunga. More than 24 hours were taken for the voyage, instead of. the customary 16, but Captain J Keatley brought the ship in this morning undamaged. The Hauturu crossed the Manukau Bar at'9,3o a.m. yesterday and commenced her voyage under moderate conditions. Gradually, however, the westerlv wind increased in intensity and veered round to the north. Bv midnight the Hauturu was plunging in heavy following seas, raised by a gale that carried with it drenching rain. Fairly steady progress was maintained until 3 o'clock this morning, when one engine failed. While the engineers' worked strenuously to repair the motor, the vessel, shipping heavy seas, limped on under the other engine for five and a-quarter hours, when the damaged unit was again able to be started. Visibility was very bad, and no land was seen until, when the ship was barely two miles from New Plymouth, the sugar-loaf peak of Paritutu was dimly visible. There was a heavy sea off the port, and the smail vessel was lost to the sight of observers on the wharves as she sank into the troughs. She was brought in without mishap and berthed nine hours behind schedule.