COLLISION AT SEA

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12315, 9 December 1925, Page 6

COLLISION AT SEA

TWO SHIPS BADLY DAMAGED ONE BEACHED IN SYDNEY HARBOUR SEAMAN DROWNED By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright SYDNEY, December 8. The passenger steamer Suva, 2229, tons, and the cargo vessel Chillagoe collided four miles off Sydney Heads. Both vessels were seriously damaged, and one member of the crew of the Suva was lost overboard, and, although lighted buoys were launched, no trace of him was found. The Chillagoe, 1495 tons, was beached in the harbour, «nd the Sava, which was en route for Melbourne with a full passenger list, was compolled to return with badly smashed hows. The cause of the collision is a mystery, as the vessels, which were sighted from the signal station, appeared to have plenty of sea room. * When the crash occurred, most of the crew of the Chillagoe were below, and only eight feet away from where the bows of the Suva tore a gaping hole in the side below the water-line. Water poured in and the boats were launched, but examination showed that the damage was not serious enough to warrant abandoning the ship. The first indication of the collision was received by the signal station from the Suva, which signalled that sho had been in collision with the Chillagoe. The Suva then stood by, and the men were ordßred to the boat stations.

It was while swinging out one of the boats that Seaman William Doyle, of Sydney, fell from the boat. His cries could be heard in the darkness, but the search was unavailing. The Chillagoe was beached at a steep sandbank, and it was necessary to keep her propellers working to prevent the steamer slipping back into deep water.