THE KINSEN MASRU

Hokitika Guardian, 25 March 1933, Page 5

THE KINSEN MASRU

MEN’S TERRIFYING EXPER-I- ---■ ENCE'S. -

(Australian Press Association) (Received March 25 , a t 10.30 a.in.) MELBOURNE, March 25.

Terrifying experiences were related when the thirteen survivors of the Kinsen Maru reached Geelong in th p , Hide Maru. The.castaways were picked up after nearly three days in an open boat.

Despairing of rescue, the men had made a, sail out of their clothes and lifebelts, and had begun to steer for tire Queensland coast.. Many large sharks were seen near the boat.

How Captain Yerabu remained on the bridge 'and went down with his ship was related by Tosato, the second officer: “I saw the captain lashed to the bridge by a rope. He waved to ns as the ship heeled over and sank. That was the most saddening thing of all.”

The chief officer had his right foot broken when a wave crashed over the Kinsen Me.ru and was unable to save himself when the ship foundered. Describing their experiences in the badly leaking boat, Tosata said : “We were forced to work so hard that, at times, we thought death Was preferable to shivering-. We waited for a rescue ship, at the same time fearing death from the intense cold. A shin was sighted early one morning but it passed by.”