WANGANELLA STILL LODGED ON REEF

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5309, 23 January 1947, Page 5

WANGANELLA STILL LODGED ON REEF

(Press Assh.~

SALVAGE' DEIAYED' 4 %A* ' . >. ' )•' : ^ tj FURTHER WEAKNESSES - RENDER POSITION OftAp

—By Tdegraph — Copyright)):

WELLINGTON, Last Night. The proposed main attempt - It refloat. the motor liater- . Y/angaaella was postpoitoi^ . i'.om high tide this afternoon ior 12 or 24 hours. At morning tide the . stern rovealed as formerly, almost as far down as the rudder|:* Eeneath the bridge, the tihU b rppearejd to have weakenedjy At low water, the tronghu cf the swell showed the bbw 1 torn away for an indetermiri« : able length and a big gash was ; rpparent from the rock belb^vA the bridge, which had scoredu the plates on striking. vH Divers estimate the aperture fect in length. There. is 1-7 feet &■ water in,both forward holds, and-* weakness seemed to fce developipjg frrther aft of the (bridge. Dou-bts were entertained . ,as '. whether the actual tugging ; would be made in time. , %:v. Oil Fuel Discharged' " - b;V; About 600 tons of f-uel oil was dis'r charged over the side this afterhoofl. It ran like a dark river, 200- yarda wide and a mile long, and into G'opJt C:rait. Following this the position was somewhat easier, though' still grave. - This aetion meant that a . chanc# would be taken for further -prepari.p^ the vulnerable paris of the ship „for thc consequences contingent upon Kep suecessful removal from the rocksk >: The weather was still northerly anj the conditions generally warranted little -optimism. Thus, though the tugs Kahanui, Toia and Terewhlti moved down harb'our to the Wanganella, they werd eventually dispatched to the starboard of tlie liner, where they remained vith a certain amount of shelter offered by the reef from the blustering northerly. ' j Riding on the .reef and taking. the strain on the stern on the kedg'e 'apr chors, the Wahganella prepared to pass her fourth night ashore. . About 100 members of the ship'a crew are returning to Aiustralia the first liner with berths available, which is expected to be the Dominioh M. march on January 31. . ? Iluddaft Parker's marine under-wT-iter, Captain McDonald,. from. Mel-. b.iurne, is ex-pected in Wellington toraorrow. An . official statement . mdy fce made after he examines the ship. Several inquiries from overseaa salvage tirms have been r-eceived inWellington coneerning the Wanganella.