STEAMER ON A REEF.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1648, 15 January 1913, Page 4

STEAMER ON A REEF.

UNKNOWN VESSEL; STRANDED,

A large steamer is reported to have been recently lying stranded onLihon Reef, 00 {the Queensland coast, with her mainmast and funnel missing, and apparently abandoned by her crew (says the "Sydney Morning Herald" of Tuesday last). ;'. . As the.position of the-wrcck is outside of the Great'-Barrier Reef, she is well away- from the usual course followed by steamers plying between here'and Queensland. She was first sighted by the auxiliary ketch Muwo, a vessel built in Sydney for' trading in New Guinea. The Muwo left Sydney a little over two months ago in charge of Captain Baker, who was to deliver the t vessel -to the owner at Sainnrai, New Guinea. Although the Muwo was an auxiliary ketch, it. vas decided before she left Sydney that her engines should not bo. used, but that she, should be. sailed to, her destination. In order to ensure a safe sailing passage, Captain Baker followed a course which took him along the outside of the Barrier Reef. On November 19, while the Muwo was on her way north, she sighted the stranded steamer, in latitude 16.55 south and longitude 152.10 cast. The steamer was well .upon the reef,-and'was standing with her Dow to the westward. She was a two-masted vessel, and appeared to be a large, tramp. The mainmast and funnel had carried away, but the foremast was still standing. Unfortunately, the , Muwo did not pass near enough to enable her crew to ascertain tho name of. | the steamer.

Mr. W.' Wiles, of.North Sydney, who was mate of the Muwo on tho tripl up, has returned from New Guinea, and ho reported the vessel's position to the Navigation Department yesterday. When seen, last night, Mr. Wiles said:—"Tho steamer was of the large tramp class, and she was flying no signals. As far as we could see there were no signs of life on board.' She was lying on Lihon Keef ttithe eastward of tho Great Barrier Reef.' She is off ■ the usual track of 6teamers, which is inside the reef.

"She did not have tho appearance of having been on the reef for very long, as tho paint was still oh her. Her position was slightly sheltered by another reef on the outside, but if it came on to blow heavily I think she would shift. Hor hull aid not show any damage; and she just looked as though she was afloat, but,, of course, we were some distanco away." Questioned as to whether he had formed any opinion as to the'identity'of the steamer, Mr. Wiles Teplied :-r"No, but-1 should think she wns a large tramp steamer bound for Java or-the China coast, which had been running along the outside of Ithc'reef, and lincl apparently tried to turn in before she had reached the end of it. A big tramp steamer passed us when we were on the New South Wales coast. I don't know what she was, but I thought that the' vessel on the reef was something like her."

The extraordinary feature of the nfi'air is the disappearance of the crew. Mr. Wile?, however, states that he is of the opiniun that if the crew took (o the .boats., they woujd. prqbably. ..have, been washed over on tn\the reef. The matter was coportcd at Samarai, but there wit's no vcs«bl thers which could bo dispatched .to tta axM.