WHALERS LOST

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 855, 26 December 1929, Page 1

WHALERS LOST

TWO VESSELS CRUSHED BY ICE CREWS ARE SAFE Press Association. DUNEDIN, Today. Advice was received on Tuesday afternoon that two whale chasers, operating in the southern latitudes, had been crushed in the ice pack and so badly damaged that they foundered. The crews were reported rescued by the whaling factory ships. received by the wireless operator of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition ship Eleanor Boling state that the ice is the heaviest experienced for many years, and the whalers are experiencing great difficulty in forcing a passage through to the Ross Sea. Factory ships belonging to three companies entered the ice pack two weeks ago, but are having a rough time. Whales are plentiful on the outside of the ice pack and the chasers made good catches. As a result of the conditions the Eleanor Boling and the City of New York will not leave here until next month. The whaling ships now forcing a passage through the pack ice are the Kosmos, Neilsen Alonso, Sir James Clark Ross and the Southern Princess. The big factory ship C. A. Larsen was still outside the ice belt a week ago, but it is believed that she has since made a start to force a passage through to the Ross Sea. The Eleanor Boling, now berthed at Dunedin, is in constant wireless communication with the fleet of w-haling vessels which has been operating on the outside of the ice pack for some time. Almost daily reports are received from the eaptains of the large whaling factory ships concerning the condition of the ice.