SINKING OF THE SELJE

Hokitika Guardian, 19 April 1929, Page 3

SINKING OF THE SELJE

PERILOUS RESCUE WORK

SYDNEY,. April 4

It is apparent that it was only by the exercise of splendid seamanship that the crew was not lost of the Norwegian wheat freighter Selje, which foundered off the coast of Victoria 25 minutes after it had been in collision with the Union Company’s steamer Kaituna. Graphic stories of the rescue were told when the Kaituna, with badly damaged bows, limped into Melbourne with the crew of the Selje on board.

The Selje, which carried 114,000 bagi: of wheat which were insured for £7-5,000, sank with surprising rapidity, so much so that the crew was able to save nothing. The wife of Captain Anderson estimated her loss at £IOOO, and practically every member of the crew lost their savings, including £l5O in notes which the carpenter had in his cabin. The cause of the collision is not yet known. Visibility is stated to. have been good at the time the vessels came in contact, and there was only a moderate swell. The disaster occurred at 10 o’clock on Good Friday night when the sea was calmer than it had been off the coast for several days.

The two captains were on their bridges when a collision appeared imminent. The order was given by Captain A. J. Sizer from the bridge of the Kni tuna for “ full speed astern," and the engines had been reversed several minutes before the impact took place. With a grinding crash the bows of the Kaituna struck the Selje on the port side just aft of amidships. The reversing of her engines carried the Kaituna astern immediately after the impact, and a gaping hole was left in the side of the Selje. The steel plates were crushed inwards for eight or ten feet, and water poured into the wheat-laden holds. The Selje listed heavily to port, and while her crew rushed from below on to the slanting decks the vessel commenced to settle down.

Desperate efforts were made on the Selje to lower boats, of which there were two, in addition to the captain’s motor launch. The ropes attached to the starboard boat had been cut in the excitement, and it was found impossible to launch the boat. The port boat was successfully launched, however, and the crew jumped into it. There were 27 men, and they had the utmost difficulty in reaching the boat in safety. Moreover, the boat was nearly smashed to pieces before it was got clear of the doomed Selje. The Kaituna had by this time drifted away nearly a mile, and the men set out desperately in her direction. Before they reached the Kaituna the lifeboat was half-filled with water, and no sooner did they get on hoard than the lifeboat sank.

The Captain’s launch was manned by four members of the crew in charge

1 of the second officer, and in it the wife of the captain took her plac.e The captain and the wireless operator remained on the ship. The launch had ust got clear when the captain sprang from the bridge into the sea. He was picked up by the second officer and one of the crew, who seized him by the

hair and hauled him aboard the launch. The next excitement was provided In the gallant wireless operator, Ashjornsen, who had remained in his room sending distress messages. He went on deck only to find that both boats had left the steamer. Rushing to the bridge he pulled the rope attached to the siren, sending a series of blasts across the water. The launch at once returned, and he leaped from the bridge. He was, however, drawn under by the suction caused by the Selje when she sank. He returned tthe surface and he swam about for nearly a quarter of an hour before he was pulled on board one of the Kaituna’s lifeboats.

Four boats had been launched from the Kaituna, and while they were ” the water the Selje sank stern first sending up great jets of steam and smoke. Lifeboats near her felt the suction, which added to their danger in the swell. The sinking lifeboat from the Selje was the first to reach the Kaituna, and immediately afterwards the captain’s launch same alongside. The first care was the safety of the captain’s wife, who was clad only in a nightdress and a blanket. Assisted by her husband she made a desperate effort to climb the rope-ladder while the boat rose and fell from her. Losing her grip on the ladder, she fell hack into the launch, and with the greatest difficulty she was caught by two members of the crew. A second attempt to place her on hoard the Kaituna, when the surge of the swell lifted the launch almost to the bulwarks, was successful. No attempt was made to salvage the launch, which Quickly drifted from the Kaituna and was lost. Several members of the crew of the Selje said that many sharks were seen near the wreck .and one swam so near to the lifeboat that it had to he beaten off with an oar. The knowledge that many sharks were present added to the excitement, and it meant that the lifeboats had to work rapidly in order to prevent loss of life from this added danger.

When the Kaituna commenced to make for port it was realised that the damage the vessel had received was greater than was imagined in the darkness. For this reason Captain Sizer decided to proceed dead slow until daylight. Collision mats were placed in position, and a bulkhead was bolstered up by timber baulks. A full inspection of the damage in the morning convinced Captain Sizer that the best course would be to force the vessel on at the fastest pace commensurate with safety. Favoured by the weather the Kaituna made good progress. Her fore tanks were pumped out to raise her bow. As the bow lifted from the swell water poured from the

great gaping hole near the stern on the starboard side, and from a smaller hole on the port side. The propeller, partly out of the water and thrashing the sea to foam, gave an impression of the plight of the vessel and her desperate efforts to reach port.

A cable message on Tuesday last stated: —The Marine Court has found that the collision between the Norwegian steamer Selje and the Union Company’s steamer Kaituna, on Good Friday night, was due to the negligence of Article 28 of the Collision. Regulations having been disregarded by the Master and .the Third Officer of the Kaituna, which alone was blameworthy.