STEAMERS COLLIDE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 8 December 1925, Page 5

STEAMERS COLLIDE.

BOTH MUCH DAMAGED. A MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR. ,’ress Association—Electric Telegraph—Copyrig'. (Received Tuesday, 10.55 a.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. The passenger steamer Suva (2229 tons) and the cargo carrier Chillagoe (1495 tons) collided four miles off Sydney Heads. Both vessels were seriously damaged. One member of the Suva’s crew was lost overboard, and though lighted buoys were launched, no trace was found of him. The Chillagoe was beached in the, harbour, and the Suva, which was bound for Melbourne with a full passenger list, was compelled to return with badly smashed bows. 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 wore launched, but an examination showed that the damage was not serious enough to warrant abandoning the ship. The first indication of the collision was received at tin, signal station from the Suva, which signalled that there had been a collision with the Chillagoe. The Suva then stood by, and the men were ordered to their boat stations. It was while swinging out one of the boats that the seaman, William, Doyle, of Sydney, fell from the boat. —P.A. CRIES IN THE DARKNESS. (Received Tuesday, 11.15 a.m.) . SYDNEY, This Day. When the seaman Doyle fell from the Suva’s 1 out-swung boat, his cries could be heard in the darknee, but a search was unavailing. The Chillagoe was beached on a stoop sand-bank, and it is necessary to keep the propellers working to prc\ent the steamer slipping back into deep water.—P.A.