SHIPPING DISASTER

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 449, 26 February 1890, Page 5

SHIPPING DISASTER

WRECK OF THE HOLYHEAD. A telegram from Melbourne says :—A four-masted barque named the Holyhead, Captain F. Williams, from Liverpool, ran on to the reef off'Point Lonsdale. It is feared that she will become a total wreck. She is a new vessel, valued at £25,000. Her cargo is valued at £60,000. The ship George Roper was wrecked some years ago at the same spot, and under almost similar circumstances. Other incoming vessels have met with disaster at the same place. At the time of the accident the weather was thick and heavy, with squalls blowing freshly from south-east. The captain was nob sure of the coast, and signalled for a pilot for nearly three hours, but was unable to attract attention. He then resolved to continue on till he reached the entrance to Hobson’s Bay, in the meantime keeping, as he thought, well out. When the vessel struck she was going at the rate of seven and a-half knots per hour. Efforts were unsuccessfully made to get her off, but the wind was strong and she settled on the reef with a heavy thud. Soon after striking two pilots boarded her. They think there is very little hope of geting her off. Sounding shows 7ft water in her hold. As soon as she struck the weather got worse, and the Holyhead has been bumping heavily. Captain Williams is a senior officer in the service ot the owners, by whom he has been employed 20 years, and was regarded as a most trustworthy captain. This is his first visit to Victorian waters, but for a number of years he was engaged in the trade on the New South Wales coast. He also traded as master of the barque Corinna between Tasmania and Newcastle and New Zealand. This is his first serious mishap. The mate, boatswain, and one sailor have been left on board, there being no likelihood of the vessel breaking up immediatelv.