Fire Breaks Out On Steamer Sussex

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 649, 29 April 1929, Page 1

Fire Breaks Out On Steamer Sussex

AFTER HOLD ABLAZF AT SEA NEAR SAMARANG According to cable advice received in Auckland this morning, the Federal steamer Sussex, under charter to the Union Steamship Company, caught fire after leaving Samarang on Friday. Instead of proceeding toward Auckland, the ship has returned full speed to Samarang. where she will be unloaded after tne fire has been extinguished. 4 PPARENTLY the blaze is of serious dimensions, and the after section of the Sussex, in which No. 4 hold is situated, has been flooded in an attempt t okeep the flames in check. This may prove difficult, as much of the cargo carried on the Calcutta run. is distinctly of an inflammable nature. The Sussex carries passengers and in all probability upwards of a dozen will be on board. NEW ZEALAND CARGO The ship, which is under the comi mand of Captain W. W. Hender, left j Calcuta on April 3 and Rangoon on | April 11, whence she proceeded to j Penang. Singapore and Samarang. Cargo was loaded for Auckland, I Wellington and Dunedin, and the most recent advice of her movements stated that she cleared Samarang on Friday. All being well she would have reached ! Auckland on May 15. At Calcuta the Sussex loaded corn sacks, wool packs, thees representing i the March-April shipment, bone meal, and artificial manures. 1 At Rangoon the loading consisted of ! rice, mats and the like, while tinned fruits weer included at Singapore, and | kapok and wax at Samarang, the last i port of loading. If the fire has affected the corn sacks and wool packs ordered for March-April, or the delay is a lengthy one, there is bound to be consideroble inconvenience to the New Zealand importing firms. The Sussex is a steel screw steamer of four masts, 6,957 gross and 5,16$ net tonnage. She is 420 feet in length, 54 feet in the beam, and 2&.1 feet depth. She was built by Hawthorn, Leslie and Co., Ltd., Newcastle, ; England, for the Federal Steam Navigation Company, and for some time was a regular trader from England to New* Zealand under the Federal flag. For the past four years she has be. % under charter to the Union Steamship Co., running on the Calcutta service.