STEAMER GOING DOWN SENDS DISTRESS CALL

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1039, 1 August 1930, Page 9

STEAMER GOING DOWN SENDS DISTRESS CALL

COLLISION OFF GIBRALTAR SHIPS RUSH TO RESCUE United P.A. —By Telegraph—Copyright Reccl. 10.15 a.m. SYDNEY, Today. A wireless message from the steamer Nerbudda says she is sinking 100 miles east of Gibraltar, after a collision with a Spanish steamer. Salvage vessels are rushing from Gibraltar to aid the sinking vessel. The stokehold and engine-room are flooded, but the other holds are dry. No lives have been lost, and the dry cargo- is intact. The steamer Nankin is proceeding to the assistance of the distressed vessel. The Nerbudda, 7,911 tons, was built in 1919 for the British India Steam Navigation Company. She came to Australia in May under the auspices of the Federal Steam Navigation Company and loaded wool and general cargo at Melbourne, Port Pirie and Fremantle. She sailed from Fremantle on July 1 under the command of Captain J. Bleneowe A later message states the Nerbudda’s freeboard is under seven feet. The ingress of water into Number Three hold has been partly stopped, but is slowly rising in Number Four. The position is hopeful if the salvage steamer arrives quickly. The Nerbudda was at Auckland in August 1924 to the agency of R. Millar and Company. She loaded merchandise and sailed for Tonga.