CARGO ON FIRE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23177, 25 October 1938, Page 9

CARGO ON FIRE

MOTOR-SHIP HAURAKI OUTBREAK WHILE AT SUVA SUGAR AND COPRA DAMAGED SUVA, Oct. 24 Fire broke out among copra in No. 2 hold of the motor-ship Hauraki this morning. It is believed to have been caused by spontaneous combustion. The outbreak was suppressed after considerable damage was done. The copra and 7000 tons of sugar were damaged by water, and will probably have to be unloaded. The vessel was alongside the wharf at the time, and leads from the shore and the ship were used to fight the fire. Several outbreaks of fire have occurred in the Hauraki during her service in the transpacific trade. When she was at Vancouver in May, 1928, a fire broke out in a hold, where some workmen were using an acetone gas flame, but little damage resulted. In July of the same year, fire damaged a quantity of sugar when the Hauraki was en route from Suva to San Francisco. The ship's greatest misfortune occurred in August, 1934, when she went ashore near Tararata Point, near Brown's Bay, in a fog, and was in Calliope Dock for 74 days for repairs. The Hauraki, of 7113 tons gross, is regularly engaged in the service from the Pacific Coast to New Zealand and Australia, returning via Island ports. She reached Suva from Sydney on October 12 on her wav to Vancouver.