THROUGH A CYCLONE

Taranaki Daily News, 22 July 1929, Page 7

THROUGH A CYCLONE

A STEAMER IN PERIL. Captain G. Drelick, master of the Swedish steamer Roxen, used great quantities of oil to calm the seas when his ship was in danger in a cyclone off the coast of New South Wales and Queensland recently. On arrival in Sydnev after a passage of more than four days from Brisbane, he said that the oil* undoubtedly saved his deck cargo, and possibly saved the steamer from foundering. Forward on the Roxen is a towering mass of timber. For more than twelve hours tremendous seas beat up against its sides and swept down on top. If the lashings had given way the timber, which consisted largely of square logs 90ft long, would have gone overboard in a few seconds, carrying away the hatches and laying the vessel bare to the great combers that were continually tumbling over the sides. With so much timber in the sea it would have been necessary to stop the engines for fear of the propeller being fouled, and in such a contingency the safety of the ship is a matter for conjecture. Fortunately the stevedores had done their work well. The Dashings held fast, although lengths of rail carried away under the pressure of the timber as it sagged to one side for several feet. A good deal of timber was swept away and many barrels of oil, carried as a deck cargo aft, met a similar fate. The position forward was so dangerous that Captain • Drelick called his crew aft to sit on the bridge, and they were accommodated amidships until the danger had passed. The Roxen left Brisbane on Friday, June 28, and next day, at 10.3'0 a.m., when Cape Byron lighthouse had been sighted, the barometer fell rapidly, and shortly afterwards the first cyclone squall came, with a tremendous sea. So great was the force of the wind against the high cargo on the foredeck that the Roxen would not steer, so Captain Drelick decided to turn round and run before the wind.

“It was very hard to get about,” Captain Drelick said. “The engines had to be forced to move her round. Although it was in the middle of • the day, visibility was restricted. We did not know how far we were off the coast, so the wind was kept on the steamer’s side, and she was driven along at top speed to get away from the coast. By this time mountainous seas were swinging over the steamer.”

It was then, Captain Drelick added, that he decided to use the oil to keep the seas down. The Roxen, being an oil-burner, the fuel from her tanks was used. It was pumped, into the scuppers on the weather side, whence it found its way into the sea at points where it could do most good. The experiences on Saturday night, when the worst of the gale was encountered, would never be forgotten. There was not only wind and rain, the like of which he had seldom seen before, but the most terrifying thunder and lightning also. Certainly th--e were unusual intervals between each Hash and the thunder-clap, but the prospect of a ship carrying a big cargo of benzine being struck by lightning was not alluring. On Sunday morning the weather began to improve, and nt eight o’clock the Roxen was again put about when abreast of Brisbane. The voyage to Sydney was accomplished safely, although rough seas persisted practically all the way. "