SHIP ADRIFT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26770, 13 May 1948, Page 6

SHIP ADRIFT

PORT WAIKATO AT MERCY OF GALE DANGEROUS WATERS P.A. WELLINGTON, May 12. Her single screw jammed by a steel hawser, the 675-ton Holm Company motor vessel Port Waikato is drifting helplessly before a westerly gale 50 miles west of the Chatham Islands. She has a crew of 15 and also 14 passengers. Seas in the area are reported to be rough. The Union Company’s motor ship Kamo left Lyttelton at 3.30 p.m. to-day and is racing hard to assist the stricken vessel. The Wellington trawler Manuka, which is in the vicin- | ity of the islands, is also in touch with ! the Port Waikato. The Kamo, a former ! German anti-aircraft ship, is expected i to covef* the 400-odd miles to the Port ! Waikato in about 48 hours. The Port Waikato would drift at about three to four knots before the moderating wind, said a master mariner in Wellington to-night. The Kamo has a service speed of 10 knots but is expected to make better speed on her race against time. The .Wellington Weather Office said to-night that the gale blowing at the 'Chatham Islands was gradually dropping and backing towards the south. It was expected that the wind would change to the south-west in the next 12 to 18 hours. Should the wind change adversely there is a danger that the vessel may be blown helplessly on to the numerous reefs and outlying rocks for which the islands are notorious. The Port Waikato left the Chathams at 5 p.m. on Tuesday on what was to be her last trip for the season. The

wire rope which is holding her at the mercy of wind and sea is believed to have fouled her screw during the early hours of this morning, t* A Holm Company official, Mr G. B. Miles, stated to-night that he doubted if the trawler Manuka had sufficieffi power to tow the Port Waikato under the present weather conditions. If the wind changed, however, she could probably keep her away from danger. He said the Port Waikato, which ’i: carrying- a full cargo of live sheep, is owned by the Watchlin Shipping Company, of Auckland, but has been operated for some years by the Holm Shipping Company. She was built in 1929 for the trans-Tasman timber trade. She has a large main hatch amidships with her engines and one funnel at the stern. For many years she has been employed in the coastal trade, running during the winter to the Chatham Islands for sheep and cattle.