AN OCEAN TRAGEDY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 81885, 12 November 1906, Page 4

AN OCEAN TRAGEDY.

Part culars came to hand recently of a tragedy which occuricd on boaid oil-tank steamer Balakani, wails' on a voyage from Fhiladelpli.a to London with a cargo of 0 t, and which reallied in the d>.ith of the master 1. Cap tan John Hewitt) ar.d the third olticcr \.\lr Geoige llarii^>n). The Balkanai, owned by the Caucasian Steamship Company,, is a sieei sciew three-master, spec ally constructed for carrying 0.l in bulk. '1 lit ves-s-I left I'.iiladelph a eai... in August with a cargo of 5200 tons of nil, and not long alter clearing the Ainer.can coa s t she encountered very heavy gales and tcrr tie seas. She continued her course without any untoward occurrence, despite the exceptionally sevete weather, unt 1. when about 700 mtlcfiom Europe, the seas became tremendous. About midnight 011 the 20tn ,h'> capta n. with the third officer ant' a 5a lor named Richardson- were on watch on the main deck, for ard of the bridge. Wiihoui wain ng a huge sea struck jth'- ve-sel. bursting opsn one of tat 'j,i.r;s and causing a gieat volume if j water to be siupp'd inboard. Cap itan Hewit', Mr Harrison and a sailor j v.crc caught by the iush of water | the two former being swep; off the r ; feet over the bulwarks and carried out to sea. The sailor was thrown violently against the bulwarks, but was able to secure a hold and save himself from being washed overboard. He was rendered uncou scious. When lie had recovered consciousness. he made h:s way to the br.dge, and alarmed the chief cfli tcr (Mr Ciaridge). That officer at or.ee had the vtsel put about- and al.h"ugh the nght was pitch dark and the >cas were running high he made every effort to trace tile missing men. He rema ned near ihe sp >t unt l day light, when he had to abandon the search for the miss ng officers, and navigate the vessel to London.