STEAMER BURNT AT SEA.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 March 1922, Page 6

STEAMER BURNT AT SEA.

ELEVEN OF CREW PERISH. OTHERS’ NARROW ESCAPE. The steam trawler E.W.B. landed at Lowestoft recently, Captain Gestersen and nine of the crew of the Hamburg steamer Vesta, the survivors of a crew of 20. The mate and his wife, who had been married only three weeks and were on their honeymoon, were both drowned. The men saved by the E.W.B. had a terrible experience. Their vessel caught fire, and they were rescued just in time, when the ship was a raging furnace. Captain Gestersen, of Flensburg, said that the Vesta left Hamburg for Lisbon with a general cargo and a deck cargo of arsenic and naphtha. When they were 40 miles south-east of Lowestoft heavy weather was encountered. The steamer rolled a good deal, and soon after 1 o’clock in the morning the deck cargo shifted. There were loud explosions, and quickly flames burst out, setting the ship on fire fore and aft, with the exception of a space amidships. Hei-e the crew and the mate’s wife huddled. The port boat was destroyed, and when the starboard boat was put out, with thre men in her, she was swept away by the seas, and the men were drowned. The mate, with his wife in his arms, jumped overboard, and they, too, disappeared. Others of the crew jumped from the burning ship until only the captain and nine men were left in the steamer. Their clothing was charred, and they were also helpless from the fumes given off by the thaThey had abandoned all hope, when, about 7 o’clock, some six hours after the outbreak of fire, a steam trawler was seen in the distance. The men waved frantically anything they had, but the trawler had already seen the smoke, and bore down quickly. A boat was launched from the trawler, and one of the steamer’s crew who jumped into the sea was pulled on board. The captain said that he and the others were too far gone to jump, but the trawler got alongside after three or four attempts. and then, one after another, they all jumped or were pulled on board. The trawler's crew gave them hot coffee and tea, and by the time they reached Lowestoft —about 4 o’clock—they had partly recovered from the effects of the fumes, although scorched and suffering from shock.